Darkened Chaos
by Hero Memory
Summary: After three years of peace, the Metarex return with a plan involving the manipulation of the fake Chaos Emeralds, a plot which Sonic and his friends must rise up to fight, especially when they learn it leads to a timeline in which Amy loses her life. But when the choice falls to Sonic whether Amy lives or dies, Amy questions if she can trust Sonic with her life after all.
1. Remembering the Undone

**Welcome, one and all, to my first new fanfiction in I-don't-know-how-long! **(Though, admittedly, I've been working on this novel since 2009, so saying that is sort of a stretch.)

Anyway, I just finished posting _Metarex Rule_ two weeks ago, which means it's time for its sequel. Yes, very important piece of information to communicate right away:

_**Darkened Chaos **_**is a sequel to my fanfiction _Metarex Rule_. **

**HOWEVER!**

Never fear, you should be able to jump right in with _Darkened Chaos_. Certainly, it helps to have read _Metarex Rule_, but when it is referenced, I will very often explain the reference, as any author would in writing a sequel. If there's anything you have questions about, please don't hesitate to reach out! I'm happy to answer any questions whether you're a long-time follower of _Metarex Rule _or jumping right in with _Darkened Chaos. _

In case it was not already clear, this is a continuation of _Sonic X_, jumping off where season 3 left off. Because I started writing my trilogy before all episodes of that season had aired, there are some differences that violate continuity, for example, the fact that Chris is present in this novel. But those continuity violations should be very few.

Otherwise, all you need to know is that this novel opens up three years after the conclusion of _Metarex Rule_.

Without further ado, please enjoy! And though it likely does not need saying:

Disclaimer: I do not own _Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic X, _or anything related to the franchise. This is merely a work of fanfiction.

* * *

**Chapter One: Remembering the Undone**

_October 30__th__, 2009_

_Dear journal,_

_I can't believe it's been three years since I last wrote my thoughts in a journal. Well…not really three years. More like the first time ever. Time travel erasing nearly six years of your life makes the whole tracking of things in your past a lot more uncertain. Either way, I feel like writing again. It's a great way to get my thoughts down when something's bugging me. And right now, something is…off._

_Quick intro: my name's Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails, and I'm a twelve-year-old two-tailed fox. Well…sort of twelve. Also kind of eighteen. Thanks to time travel, like I said before._

_Basically, three years ago, we—the whole galaxy, I guess—were sent back in time from February 2012 to May 2006. In that time period that was erased, we had fought a five-year war against the Metarex—the Changed War, as we call it now. A war where Sonic had been captured and tortured by the Metarex. A war where I learned I could use the Chaos Emeralds and did so to defeat the leader of the Metarex. But all of that never happened now, when we returned back to the end of the very first war against the Metarex._

_Life has been different since time was changed. Cosmo's back, for one thing, faster than last time around. The Metarex aren't back is another thing. Our biggest problem right now is Eggman. And that's a huge relief. It's usually a cinch facing Eggman, compared to all we went through with the Metarex._

_Actually, the thing that's bothering me is that Eggman hasn't attacked us for a while. Which is weird. It's normally like clockwork, Eggman showing up with a new robot something like every other Thursday. But he's been quiet. Which means he's probably up to something. _

_Though, like I said, compared to the Metarex, it's definitely nothing we can't handle._

_..Miles "Tails" Prower_

Tails put his notebook beside him in the grass before laying back himself on Cream's mother's lawn. The sun beamed down from above and warmed his fur. In the background, Cream, Cheese, and Cosmo's laughter echoed as they ran around playing tag.

Sonic was off somewhere exploring. Tails knew Knuckles and Chris were somewhere on Angel Island, though it had been some time since he had known specifically where. Amy's location was unknown to him but that wasn't unusual, since she split her time between her friends.

In the brief moment of almost quiet, Tails lingered. Sunlight, laying outside in full view of potential enemy fire, all of it still seemed impossible, given the war they had experienced against the Metarex. Even though that war, the Changed War, had technically never happened after going back in time by an unknown cause, it had done a toll on Tails. The pain hadn't disappeared just because the war never happened. The memories were still in Tails's head.

A shadow suddenly blocked Tails's light, and he opened his eyes. Amy stood there, tennis racquet in hand. She quirked her hip to one side and her white pleated skirt moved with her. The sun glinted off the gold heart clasp on her headband that matched the same clasp on her boots. She shoved her free hand in the kangaroo pocket of her red short-sleeved hoodie. "You up for a game?" she asked.

Tails just blinked at her.

"Sonic's not around, and I'm bored so c'mon! I need a challenge," Amy said, grabbing Tails's arm and beginning to drag him up.

"Hey! Calm down; I'll play," Tails said, snatching up his notebook before Amy hauled him to his feet.

Amy caught sight of Tails's possession and frowned. "You're writing again? I haven't seen you do that since the Changed War."

"Yeah," Tails replied. "Something's on my mind so I decided to start writing again."

"Like…what?" Amy said slowly, narrowing her eyes.

"It's not a big deal," Tails said quickly. "Eggman hasn't been attacking lately, and I just thought it was really weird."

Amy smiled and shook her head. "So what? Dr. Eggman is always stewing on something new. And it's not like we've ever lost to him before anyway."

She spun on the spot and started to drag Tails away. But then she added, "Besides, it's not like Eggman can throw anything at us that's worse than we've already faced."

-(-)-

Tails pounded the tennis ball with a grunt. The tennis ball twisted quickly on Amy's side, and she barely sliced it back in time. Tails drove it back. And this time, Amy couldn't reach it in time before it twisted out of bounds. "How do you curve your hits like that?" she snapped. "That's not even _fair_."

"Amy, this is deuce about fifteen times over. We're pretty evenly matched," Tails pointed out.

Not that it made much of a difference to Amy, Tails could see in her still fuming expression. Her competitive nature knew no bounds. He grinned weakly at her. _Why did I agree to this? _he thought.

And then Amy pulled out her Piko-piko hammer. Tails paled. "Uh…Amy…?"

"Just serve," Amy said, chucking the tennis ball over the net to Tails. He caught it on the bounce.

"Go, Tails!"

Tails turned at the sound of Cosmo's cheer. Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese stood outside the edge of the tennis court, though Tails had been too focused on Amy's…_competitiveness_ to notice. Cosmo wore a white long-sleeved shirt covered with a green short-sleeved jacket that stopped above her stomach and a green skirt. She pressed her hands to her heart and smiled at him. At her side, Cream wore a bright orange dress tied with a red bow at the middle.

While Cosmo seemed to be rooting on Tails, Cream and Cheese cheered for both competitors. Tails turned back to the match at hand. He bounced the tennis ball against the ground, taking a moment to watch Amy. She looked furiously into the game, leaning forward with narrowed eyes and her hammer gripped with both hands in front of her. Tails hoped that when Amy hit the ball, it wouldn't be slammed in the direction of his head.

Tails tossed the tennis ball into the air and hit it hard over the net. Amy whacked it back with her hammer. The tennis ball rocketed toward him and he all but dived out of the way to avoid injury and allowed the ball out of bounds. "That's advantage you…again," Tails called.

"Then all I need is one good shot," Amy said, twirling the handle of her hammer in her hands.

Tails sighed and tilted his head back to look at the sky overhead. It was more pink than blue at this point as the sun grew closer to the horizon. "It's getting late," he said.

"No way are you getting away that easily," Amy said.

Tails raised an eyebrow. "This is tennis, not Eggman."

She shrugged, smirking at him. "That just means you're scared."

"Amy," Cream called out suddenly, "Sonic might be back by now. You wouldn't want to leave him waiting."

Amy's expression instantly changed. She straightened and allowed her hammer to vanish from her hands. "Then what are we waiting for?" She dashed forward, scrambling to scoop up her racket as she went.

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. He lifted his head to Cream who already watched him with a smile across his face. He mouthed, "Thank you."

She simply shrugged. The gesture looked strangely mature on her at not yet nine-years-old. But her mind was fifteen. Time travel had made this a strange world.

-(-)-

Darkness fell by the time that Tails, Cosmo, Cream, and Cheese got back to the part of the valley in which they resided. Only the faintest glimmer of sunlight peeked over the horizon so that the world because outlines suggesting objects rather than the objects themselves. If not for the fact that Tails had left his notebook behind at Amy's house, he would have headed straight home to his workshop to make use of the thin line of sunlight remaining. But as it was, Tails followed Amy through her front door and into her home where lamps already lit her small front living room.

To find Sonic the Hedgehog lounging across Amy's couch, remote in hand as she surfed through the channels of Amy's small television.

He turned his eyes their way as they walked in. "Where've you been all day?" Amy snapped, tossing her racket down in front of her coat closet.

"Exploring," Sonic said with a smirk and a shrug.

"I figured that much out," she replied, rolling her eyes. "But where?"

Sonic's smirk widened into a grin. "Everywhere."

Sonic turned incrementally to shift his gaze to Tails's face. "Hey there, bud. I would've expected you to be home by now. It's pretty dark out there."

Tails grinned. "I'm basically eighteen now, Sonic. I'm pretty sure I can walk myself home in the dark. I just needed to grab my journal."

He slipped around from behind Amy to step forward and pick his notebook off one of the end tables that bookended the couch, but as he turned back to head out the door, Amy stepped into his path. She braced her hands on her hips. "Sonic's right; you're not walking home now."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to play tennis until the moon came out?" Tails said, tilting his head to one side.

"That's beside the point!" Amy snapped, leaning forward so that only inches separated their faces. "It's dark out and I have a guest room. You're staying here."

Tails took a step back so that he could turn his gaze from Amy to Sonic and back again. "Guys, really, I'm fine," he insisted, laughing. "One second you believe in me enough to let me use the Chaos Emeralds to defeat the Metarex and the next you don't want me walking home in the dark."

"It's nothing to do with maturity," Amy said firmly, "and everything to do with hospitality."

Tails looked at Sonic. He pushed himself to his feet and stepped toward Tails. Once he was close enough, he leaned in close to Tails's ear. "Bullying guests into staying the night is kind of Amy's version of hospitality. Why do you think I'm here?"

Tails smiled as Sonic leaned away. Sonic shrugged. "Take the guest room. I prefer the couch anyway."

-(-)-

_The X-Tornado, Hyper Tornado, Hurricane Alpha, and Hurricane-2 reached the Metarex attack in minutes._

_Tails's heart froze at the sight of the damage. Metarex swarmed the rubble where a house once stood, where a family once lived. Tails's throat burned with unshed tears. _

_Tails shoved his controls forward and threw the X-Tornado into the fight. His missile crashed into the middle of a crowd of Metarex and they exploded in a dozen directions. But when he spun the ship around to realign his line of sight with the enemy, he felt how violently his hands shook on the controls. The vibration spread up his arms. He looked down at them, eyes wide. _

_Tails fired a laser, slicing through a line of Metarex. Their pieces erupted from where they once stood. _

_But still, Tails couldn't choke down the suffocating anxiety in his chest. His heart thundered loudly until it shook his body with every beat. Tails fired more and more at the Metarex. Light flashed, and Metarex fell apart until only a handful remained._

_And then Tails couldn't catch his breath._

I don't think this fear is normal,_ he thought._

_"Tails, watch out!" Cosmo screamed._

_Her cry ripped Tails from his memories, and his vision faded back just in time to see a flash of light from a Metarex weapon destroy the nose of the X-Tornado. Tails gasped but actual words completely failed him._

_He tried to steer, but the controls slid around without any response from his craft__._

-(-)-

Tails woke with a start before the collision with the ground and bolted upright in bed. He gasped for oxygen as though none surrounded him. The thudding of his heart sent vibrations throughout his body. He stared straight ahead, his brain struggling to comprehend his nightmare.

But…that nightmare—that memory—hadn't even _happened_. The moment had been erased from reality when time had turned back.

The moment he'd failed.

The moment when fear overwhelmed him.

The moment when that fear was so much that he lost focus. That he got himself and Cosmo hurt.

That he should have got them killed.

Oxygen would not do any good in banishing the tears burning across the surface of his eyes.

-X-X-X-

_Amy's View_

_Tails sprinted around the corner, following the Metarex, and Amy's feet paced her just behind him, though she couldn't recall giving herself the command to move. Her mind was occupied with panic, _panic,_ and so her body went on in autopilot. She didn't think about if their footfalls were quiet enough. Didn't think about how little running looked like sneaking if you weren't Sonic and able to outpace the wind. _

_Vision cleared, quickly blurred, snapped into focus again. Breath easy, then laborious. Aware of her body and then distant, as if completely separate._

_But there were no alerts, no sirens, no flashing red lights, nothing to warn of intruders. Amy forced her brain to consider the facts logically. Just because Shining Birch was on the ship didn't mean the Metarex was close enough to affect Sonic._

_He was okay. He was always okay. Even after they had determined they'd finally found the _one thing_ in the universe able to take the hedgehog from them, he came home._

_Tails slid through a turn into the last hallway standing between them and the Blue Typhoon and skidded to a stop, once again throwing up his arm so Amy would halt beside him. They gasped for air, voices traveling in echoes a little louder than was comforting. Tails turned back to Amy and raised a single finger to his lips before pointing to light spilling into the hall from an open doorway._

_Amy followed Tails to the door. He halted just before he stepped across the light and hung in limbo there for a split second. Then he took two leaping steps across to the other side. Amy pressed her hand against her mouth, and across the doorway, Tails did the same, both of them quieting their breath as much as possible._

_Amy heard the screech of metal against metal in the room, but it didn't get any louder. So Amy allowed herself to count out three breaths before she forced herself to glance inside the room, then fall back._

_But the moment she did, the image processed in her brain. Her eyes widened. Tails watched her, daring to mouth 'What?' at her._

_Amy shook her head and pointed at the doorway. There was no way. There was no way what she saw in there was real. But now that she thought…she had to be sure._

_She leaned into the doorway again and her heart turned to stone in her chest._

_Her need to breathe evaporated._

_She lost physical form and became nothing but fear and this moment._

_Because at the center of the room, Sonic slumped inside a glass capsule, unmoving. Eyes open, unmoving._

_She forgot about sneaking. She forgot about hiding. She forgot how to move. Amy's fingers just wrapped around the edge of the doorway and she hung on for dear life._

_The Metarex they'd seen traveling down the hallway before stood around the edges of the room, along with several others. But it was Shining Birch that stood in front of Sonic, close enough that only the glass separated them. Otherwise, the Metarex could reach out and _touch_ him._

The thought sent a wave of revulsion over Amy.

_"You have betrayed the Metarex, Blue Seed," the Metarex intoned. Shining Birch sounded so unlike he had when Amy and Shadow first encountered him on Mobius—no longer calm, not above all of the ants beneath him, but growling, demeaning his soldier._

_And Sonic said nothing. Amy's eyes burned. Amy's throat burned. _Please say something_. It didn't matter that there wasn't a point. But he _needed_ to be Sonic now. Now more than ever. But Sonic remained nothing more than a damaged puppet sprawled across the ground._

_Shining Birch stared steadily at Sonic. The Metarex stayed silent. Amy wished for a clue from his expression but all Amy could learn from was his voice. And then Shining Birch waved his hand, turning away._

_A split second later, an electric bolt flooded the capsule. The light illuminated everything in the room, sending the space into violent contrast of bright and dark, but still managed to obscure Sonic from view. And it was silent._

_Too silent._

_Amy's hammer appeared in her hand without her summon, but she couldn't keep a grip on it. It slid from her limp fingers so that its head rested against the ground. Her chest tightened. She should be there. She should run in._

Should.

Couldn't.

_Too present, so present she felt distant. Because this was a nightmare. This wasn't real. And all she could do was watch._

_As quickly as it came, the light vanished away, leaving only thin trails of light in its wake before they too vanished._

_Sonic still lay on the ground. His eyes remained open. Maybe his body had moved an inch, maybe it hadn't. Silence hung until a buzzing filled Amy's ears._

I missed you, Amy Rose. I don't want to miss you anymore.

_Sonic's words when he saw her again for the first time whispered in her ear, like he was right beside her. But he wasn't._

_He wasn't in front of her either._

_One of the lesser Metarex turned away from its console to look at Shining Birch. "Blue Seed has been terminated."_

-(-)-

"No!" Amy cried, bolting upright in bed.

Sheets twisted around her body. Moonlight flooded through the otherwise dark room. And still it took Amy a moment of gasping to recognize her room surrounding her. And still another moment to remember Sonic was not in fact dead.

Nor his Chaos Double.

It had only been a nightmare, a nightmare of a memory that had never happened. Amy fell back on her pillow with a sigh. She laid her arm across her forehead and stared up at the ceiling. Despair filled her heart as tears filled her eyes.

Her skin continued jumping with nerves as the minutes passed, until finally she struggled out of her twisted blankets and out of bed. She eased her bedroom door open, casting a glance in the direction of her closed guest room door behind which Tails slept. She walked down the first few steps of her stairs and leaned over the railing to her living room below. But Sonic wasn't there, dozing on her couch. She twisted toward her front door and saw the bolt unlocked.

Amy's shoulders slumped. "What a night for a midnight run," she muttered to herself before turning herself around and steering herself back toward her bed.

She fell back against her pillow face-first. Emotion rose in her chest and without Sonic there to ease it out, it overflowed in tears enough to soak her pillow.


	2. In the Darkness of the Night

**Chapter Two: In the Darkness of the Night**

_10/31/09_

_Dear journal,_

_I never would have guessed I would be writing again. But I am, huh? Hope Amy doesn't mind me snagging this notebook. I saw Tails writing in one again and thought, 'why not?' Can call it a travel journal or something. _

_My name's Sonic, by the way, Sonic the Hedgehog. _

_I think I'm the only one up right now. It's 7. That's not __too __early. But it sort of is if you consider the fact that I was up all night, running. I couldn't sleep last night, probably because while I told Amy I was exploring yesterday, I was really just running until I found cool places to nap. But that really doesn't sound as cool a thing to say to impress your girlfriend._

_-Sonic the Hedgehog_

Sonic placed the notebook on the table next to the couch and lounged back, stretching his arms out behind his head. As soon as Amy woke up, he planned on splitting for another day of exploration. But there was the one time he'd left before she woke up and to say she was _not thrilled _would be an understatement. Standing against that girl when she had a hammer in her hands was not his idea of a good time.

A creak of the stairs sent Sonic's eyes flying open. Amy's fingers trailed across the railing as she slumped down the stairs. Her eyes watched her feet rather than immediately searching for his face. Sonic pulled his arms out from behind his head and leaned forward. "Amy?"

She lifted her head and slowly turned her eyes toward him. But by the time she had guided her eyes to his face, he bolted toward her to stand at the bottom of the stairs. Rather than saying anything, he simply offered her his arms.

She looked at his offered arms then lifted her eyes to his face. "You're not some Chaos Double, are you?" she asked without a hint of inflection in her voice.

Her words sent a spear through Sonic's heart. He barely kept himself from stumbling back in shock. He couldn't do anything to stop the widening of his eyes. "I couldn't create another one even if I wanted to," he explained quickly. "The Metarex stuff left my head with the time change and we don't have a Chaos Emerald. Why would I be using a Chaos Double right now?"

Amy narrowed her eyes, but in such a way that made Sonic think that tears were on their way. "Why else would I have dreamed of you dying every time I closed my eyes last night?"

Sonic froze. Just in time for Amy to burst into tears, stumbling down the last couple of stairs to collapse on Sonic's shoulder. He robotically moved to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Because that was what he was supposed to do, right? "It was just a nightmare," he mumbled. "I'm right here. Not dead. Never have been."

"You had nightmares too?"

That wasn't Sonic's voice, but Tails's, from the top of the stairs.

Amy pulled herself away from Sonic so that both of them looked at the too-pale fox standing over them. His twin tails drooped to the floor behind him. Never in recent memory had Tails ever sounded his age. Less a side effect of time travel, in his case, and simplly a side effect of being as smart as he was. But now, he sounded even younger than twelve.

Amy dabbed her wrist beneath her eyes to mop up her tears. "Every time I fell asleep, I saw the same thing. I watched Sonic die over and over again."

Tails wrapped his hand around the railing beside him. He fixed his eyes on his hand rather than on anyone's face. He braced his weight against it as he descended the stairs. Each step seemed to land with more weight than Tails carried in his entire body. He explained, still not looking at them, "I watched myself get shot out of the sky with Cosmo. From that air skirmish we had when Sonic came back from the Metarex."

Sonic frowned. "That never happened, bud. It doesn't matter."

Tails shrugged heavily, not meeting Sonic's eyes. "It feels like it did," he mumbled. "I got distracted and nearly got me and Cosmo killed in the middle of a battle. And every time I tried to sleep, I saw it happen."

Sonic raised his chin at the sound of that, appraising the look on Tails's face. That didn't make sense. None of that made sense. Those memories never happened. And nightmares didn't usually replay over and over again.

On consecutive nights, sure. But not every time you closed your eyes. And not the same one on repeat. When there were plenty of horrible moments to choose from, they took turns. They practically planned out a rotation. One didn't usually take over like that.

But even with all those impressions in Sonic's thoughts, he shook his head and forced a reassuring smirk onto his face. He glanced sideways at Amy. "You get some weird new air freshener that works with scent memory of something?" he said. "None of those memories actually happened, so there's nothing to worry about."

As he said those words, as Tails and Amy looked at him with skepticism that after a few moments morphed into ease, Sonic planned where he could start to try to find some answers.

-(-)-

Getting up to Angel Island was an interesting challenge. Angel Island floated above the ground because of the Master Emerald. Lucky for Sonic, it was currently floating next to a mountain.

Sonic sprinted up the mountain, taking daring leaps across dangerous gaps. The early morning sun warmed his skin while the wind kept the air in his lungs cold. Despite the events of this morning, he found himself laughing out loud. Because, in one version of history, running like this would have been nothing more than a pipe dream.

He grabbed rocks jutting out of the mountain and used them to further propel himself higher and higher. He ran, he jumped, he practically flew until finally, he was able to see the surface of Angel Island. He accelerated his pace, running still higher, running still faster, and then took a leap off the mountain. He pulled himself into a spindash and shoved himself toward Angel Island's surface. He uncurled just above the ground, bent his knees, and landed. "There we go!" Sonic cheered, throwing out a thumbs-up for his own benefit.

Sonic accelerated again, speeding across Angel Island. The island had to be one of the most beautiful and unique places on Mobius. This island was full of life and the bright colors of a tropical summer, despite the world beneath settling into fall. The greens seemed deeper and truer, and bright colors were in much more of an abundance here. Sonic loved to run across Angel Island. It felt more like running through a dream.

But Sonic wasn't running just for the fun of it, like he had hoped to do today. He headed for Ancient Ruin, where the Master Emerald rested, and therefore, so did Knuckles. Sonic didn't talk to Knuckles a lot, considering Sonic was travelling most of the time while Knuckles stayed in Ancient Ruin. Not that either of them had any problem with that arrangement.

Sonic, approaching Ancient Ruin, slowed down to a walk. Knuckles laid back on the stairs of the ancient relics. Despite the value of the ancient artifact he guarded, he leaned back with closed eyes. "Hey, Knux!" Sonic called.

Knuckles opened his eyes halfway, apparently keeping them narrowed for Sonic's sake. "What are you doing here?" he groaned. He didn't so much as bother to move from his lounging position.

Sonic grinned, stepping on to the stone stairs. "What? I can't visit a friend?"

"You can. You don't. So what do you want?" Knuckles grunted.

Sonic shrugged, still slowly rising up the stairs, undeterred by Knuckles's mood. "I came to talk to you."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow but didn't otherwise comment. Sonic continued up the stairs until he finally stopped a couple stairs beneath where Knuckles lounged. Sonic lowered himself to the ground and leaned back, bracing one arm behind his head so he could look up at the echidna. "Something weird is going on," he said finally.

"Weird how?" Knuckles said slowly. "Something that could explain the Master Emerald doing that?" Knuckles jerked a thumb over his shoulder to gesture to the massive green emerald behind up. It stood on a pedestal at the top of the stairs.

And right now, it didn't just burn, as it usually did. It _pulsed._

Sonic sat up at the sight and stared. His heart quickened to pace with the pulsing. "How long has it been doing that?" Sonic exclaimed.

"A day or two," Knuckles grunted. "I was hoping you'd show up with an explanation sooner or later. Some fight with Eggman gone wrong, as usual."

"What do you mean, 'as usual?'" Sonic snapped, returning his gaze back to Knuckles. But he wore a smirk across his face. "Things don't 'go wrong.' They 'get interesting.'"

Knuckles leveled an even, unimpressed expression Sonic's way. "Either way, what did you do?"

"That's the thing." Sonic narrowed his eyes. "I didn't do anything. I haven't seen Eggman in weeks. But last night, Amy and Tails started having nightmares about things in the Changed War that never happened. Too weird to be normal." He steered his eyes back to the Master Emerald. "And I was wondering if the Master Emerald sensed something going on."

"Guess you have your answer," Knuckles said.

"Not that it's much of one," Sonic replied. _Something's wrong. But the Master Emerald pulsing isn't enough to tell me what._

-(-)-

…_blackness edged his vision…_

…_his vision was more of that darkness than it was actual vision…_

…_it ate away at the world…_

…_and while he couldn't see, he could think. But he'd long since stopped listening to the thoughts in his own head. They only hurt him. Because the thoughts were not what controlled him. He did not control him. What controlled him was the icy metal encasing his body. Like a coffin. _

_If only he was dead._

_A metallic voice belonging to the Metarex Green Fichus commanded, "Kill the fox, Blue Seed."_

_Sonic's vision sharpened at the sound of the word "fox." He lifted his head…or maybe the Metarex skin lifted his head for him. He couldn't be sure. But sitting, whimpering on the ground in front of him was a fox. An infant. Smaller than Sonic had ever known Tails to be. _

"_Kill it now!" Green Fichus said more forcefully._

_But for once, Sonic could feel the muscles running beneath his skin and he stiffened them, even as the metallic skin shoved at him, trying to force him into obeying the command. _

…_no…don't. Tails…my friend…him…he was a fox too…right? Baby…so helpless…won't…_

_Sonic put all his strength into resisting the command. The Metarex control made his head pound and every part of him twitch as it tried to fulfill the command. Won't… Sonic thought desperately. Won't…kill…._

"_Useless," Green Fichus growled. Then yelled, "Blue Seed, kill it now!"_

_The control collided with Sonic's resistance, causing the skin, as well as Sonic, to fly back and crash to the ground. Green Fichus grabbed the arm of the Metarex skeleton in which Sonic lived and pulled the soldier up so that they were eye to eye. "You will pay for that."_

_The world morphed. _

_Burning fields and bodies and broken homes gave way to a single hallway. A cell. Metarex Mansion._

_Green Fichus yanked Sonic from his Metarex skin. Sonic hung limply from the metallic hand. The skin merely amplified the signal in his head. As long as the Metarex leader remained near, Sonic was nothing more than a limp puppet. "You resisted a direct order," Green Fichus growled, holding Sonic up to his face._

_Sonic showed no reaction; he couldn't. The Metarex control in his head meant he couldn't twitch his face into any sort of expression. Green Fichus stared at Sonic a moment more before throwing him into his cell. Sonic hit the back wall hard and fell face-first to the ground. Dull pain resonated through his body. For once, Sonic was grateful for the Metarex control in his head, dulling out the worst of the pain. _

_But that shred of relief lasted no more than an instant. Green Fichus stepped up to Sonic and drove his foot into Sonic's ribs. The pain was clearer this time. If Sonic had control, he'd be yelling, cringing in pain._

_But all he could do was lay there._

_Green Fichus spun around and stormed out, slamming the door to the cell closed behind it. "Green Fichus!" someone barked._

_Even through Sonic was in a pile on the cold floor, his head lay sideways facing the door of the cell. He watched Silver Fir come into view, and a shiver slid down Sonic's spine. Beyond the pain, it was the most real sensation in Sonic's skin. He wondered if the distance between him and Shining Birch was growing, allowing him more control over his body once more. "Green Fichus, you are foolish," Silver Fir snapped._

"_He resisted a direct order to kill an infant fox," Green Fichus insisted._

"_Well, of course Blue Seed resisted. One of his greatest friends is a fox, is he not? Now, if you continue to injure the hedgehog, he will be of no use to us as he will be dead. There are other ways to get to him," Silver Fir turned away from Green Fichus to face the damaged almost-carcass of the blue hedgehog laying across the floor of his cell. "After all, Blue Seed ought to know by now that his friends have forgotten him."_

_Sonic felt as though a jolt shocked his body. "They have stopped looking for him," Silver Fir continued. "They no longer care about him."_

_Tears spilled over Sonic's eyes, wetting the ground. He had no control to banish them. No strength left to care. Silver Fir laughed softly at the sight. "See? It is in fact quite easy."_

-(-)-

Sonic's eyes flashed open, his eyes wet with unshed tears. It took him a couple seconds of gasping, of his hands scrambling to grab Amy's couch beneath him to recognize where he was. Amy's home. In a version of time where his nightmare had never occurred. Amy and Tails asleep in bedrooms above his head.

But it offered him little comfort, with that nightmare burning with life inside his head. _Not that; anything but that,_ Sonic thought desperately.

Sonic picked himself off the couch and dragged himself over to the bathroom. In the bathroom, Sonic turned on the water in the shower. He got under the water, without bothering to remove his gloves or his shoes. He just stood under the water, letting it soak his fur, to run down his body. He turned his head up and closed his eyes, letting the water rain down on his face.

He paid little attention to any additional water leaking from his eyes to join the flow from the showerhead.

After several minutes, Sonic twisted the faucet off. He grabbed a towel and dried his wet fur. He held the towel to his eyes a few moments, letting the remainder of his tears seep out. Then he tossed the towel to the floor and left the bathroom. Sonic walked through the rest of the house. The whole process felt like autopilot. Like even now, he didn't retain control of his body.

And when he reached the front door, he bolted.

The wind felt icy against Sonic's still wet fur. He rushed to a solitary tree on a nearby hill. He stopped beneath that tree and laid down under the dancing leaves. He put his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky between the leaves. _That's even more than a nightmare,_ Sonic thought. The pain the Metarex had put him through, both physical and mental, still hurt, may always hurt.

"Sonic?"

Sonic sat up. Amy stood a short distance away, hands pressed together in front of her against her skirt. "Sonic, are you okay?"

Sonic said nothing. He just steered his eyes back up to the sky above his head.

He heard Amy step toward him despite his lack of reply and felt her presence as she lowered herself to the ground to lay beside him. "Did you have a nightmare too? I heard you downstairs. You…went in the shower."

"I had a nightmare, yeah."

Amy paused. And then she asked, "What of?"

Sonic released a sigh. His eyes fell closed. His friends knew little of his life during the five years he'd been controlled by the Metarex. He'd made a point of keeping as much of it close to the chest as he could. No need to worry them. No need to relive it.

And still, he found himself answering. "Of when I was under Metarex Control. I was ordered to kill a baby fox, but I remembered Tails and resisted. Green Fichus…punished me. Physically. Then Silver Fir came up and told it to stop. And then Silver Fir said you guys stopped caring about finding me."

"You know that's not true," Amy whispered. "We never stopped looking for you."

"I know," Sonic agreed.

She paused again. Sonic squeezed his eyes tighter closed. He couldn't bear to look at her face, see her expression as she came to terms with the ways he hurt. "Are you okay, Sonic?" Amy said eventually.

_All our memories never happened. All that have something to do with the Metarex, _Sonic thought.

Then everything clicked.

Sonic's eyes flashed open in horror. His heart iced in his chest. He bolted upright into a sitting position, like he shot awake from a nightmare. Only, this was a nightmare that failed to end upon waking. "The Metarex are back," he said.

Amy slowly pushed herself up beside him. Sonic could see how her arms shook as she turned a tentative gaze toward him. "How can you be sure?" she breathed. "How could they even do that? C2 said that the Metarex…when she came back to explain the time change, she said the Metarex from the Changed War were gone for good. They can't be back."

"It doesn't have to be the same Metarex," Sonic insisted. "We fought different Metarex in the Changed War from the ones in the first war. Why couldn't the same thing happen again?"

"Then what do we do?" Amy asked in a shaking voice.

Sonic rose to his feet. A stiff breeze rushed past and he closed his eyes against it. The cold matched the iciness of the blood rushing through his veins. "I'm going to end this before it can start," he declared.

But just as he took a step back so he could shove off and start running, Amy snatched his wrist and yanked him back. Sonic looked down at her and met her narrowed eyes. "_No_," she snapped. "You are _not _running off on your own this time. If the Metarex really are back, we're handling this. _Together_. Or did you learn nothing from last time?"

Sonic released a slow breath. His stiff shoulders lowered with it. Amy had a point. Last time, in the Changed War, Sonic had run off to stop the Metarex. That's exactly how he ended up getting caught. Tortured. That's what made his nightmare a reality in the first place.

Sonic closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he urged a gentle smile onto his face. "All right, I'll stay. But we have to figure this out and fast."

Amy used the hand she had wrapped around Sonic's wrist to pull herself to her feet. She nodded at him and returned his smile with a determined one of her own. "We're stronger together."

Maybe. But there was a reason the Metarex were making themselves known through nightmares in their heads, if this was all true. Not only did it mean the Metarex could get into their heads.

It meant the Metarex weren't afraid to make themselves known. It meant the Metarex were saying, _"Bring it on_."

Sonic would. His friends would. But if the Metarex dared them, Sonic was not convinced that he and his friends would again be able to rise to the challenge.


	3. Desperate Measures

**Chapter Three: Desperate Measures**

_November 1__st__, 2009_

_Dear journal,_

_I haven't slept in days. Day? Two…? I'm not even sure. Everything blurs together now. Every time I close my eyes, I crash land._

_Sonic's called a meeting at Cream's house. Gotta go._

_..Miles "Tails" Prower_

Tails put his journal down beside him on Amy's couch. He swiped his hand beneath his eyes and wasn't sure whether he could feel the depression in his skin where the dark circles stood out against his white fur or imagined it. What he didn't imagine was the rapid pace of his anxious heart fueled by adrenaline from the fear of what might happen if he fell asleep. Amy had been the same since that first night. And now Sonic was getting nightmares. Sleep deprivation was definitely on the rise.

-(-)-

The edges of Tails's vision blurred in fog as he stood next to Amy in front of Cream's front door. He had to convince himself twice that Amy really had knocked while they waited there, since he kept second-guessing it. Vanilla, Cream's mother, answered the door. She offered them a smile as she stepped aside and invited them inside. Amy returned the smile easily, it seemed, while Tails struggled to force a similar expression onto his face.

"Cosmo and Cream are in the kitchen," Vanilla told them as Amy and Tails passed through the entryway.

Not that they needed Vanilla to tell them where to find Cream, Cheese, and Cosmo. The scent of bakery wafting through the home told them exactly where to go. Cream looked up from where she scraped the sides of a bowl with a wooden spoon as Tails and Amy walked in. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

"Something smells amazing!" Amy said, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. "What is it you two are making?"

"Cream's strawberry cream cake," Cosmo said with a smile from her place at the cutting board. Her fingers were stained with the red juice of strawberries.

Cream had made that one time during the Metarex war that had actually occurred. That day, Team Chaotix had been trying to get on the Blue Typhoon to deliver some things from home to Chris. Everyone on the Blue Typhoon, however, had mistaken the ship docking on their own as a Metarex ship and, not seeing the Chaotix in the right light, had attacked them many times. It had been memorable, to say the least.

A knock on the door echoed through the house. Tails jumped at the sound, regardless of its benign nature. His nerves were too shot to tell the difference anymore. "I've got it," Tails said quickly, trying to bury his jump in a different movement.

When he opened the door, he found Chris and Knuckles waiting on the other side. "Hey, guys," Tails said. Though his heart fell at the discovery that it wasn't Sonic who had arrived.

"Sonic here yet?" Knuckles asked, practically pushing past Tails into the house. Chris rolled his eyes and shot Tails an apologetic smile as he crossed the threshold as well.

Amy peeked into the living room from the kitchen. She hung off the doorframe as she scanned the room's occupants. "No Sonic?" she said.

"Hello to you too," Knuckles grunted, taking a seat on the couch in front of the window.

Chris laughed. "Actually, Knuckles, that's exactly how you greeted Tails." Which earned Chris a glare from the echidna. Chris only grinned in response.

"Food will be out in a little while," Cream called from the kitchen.

"Cream's baking?" Chris said. He lowered himself into one of the room's armchairs. "This sure is my lucky day."

A knock on the door triggered all the occupants of the room to instantly shift their gaze to the front door. "I got it," Amy announced and walked over to the front door.

She opened the door and after only a split second of hesitation, fell rather than jumped into the arms of the blue hedgehog they were all waiting for. "About time!" she snapped at him.

"Hey, chill, Amy. It was maybe two hours since I last saw you," Sonic said. He lifted her arms off his shoulders. But he didn't release her hand even as he stepped through the door. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear the rest of the room couldn't hear.

"So what's the point of this party, Sonic?" Knuckles snapped. "I can't leave the Master Emerald unprotected for so long, especially when it's glowing like it is. It's practically a beacon for that bat girl."

Sonic stepped toward the couch, pulling Amy along behind him. He dropped down next to Knuckles. Amy sat on the arm of the couch on Sonic's other side. "You're not going to believe me when I tell you," he said after a second.

"What do you mean?" Chris said.

Sonic shifted his gaze to each of them in turn. No smirk sparked to life across his face. Sonic's gaze on Tails's face was enough to send a shiver through the fox. Then, Sonic sighed heavily, looking down at his lap. "The Metarex are back."

_What?_

Tails's breath choked off within his lungs.

The edges of his vision darkened.

His fingers curled into fists at his sides in an effort to hide how much they shook. "How?" he managed to force out.

Sonic lifted his eyes to Tails's face so that Tails could see just how serious an expression his big brother wore. "It's the only thing that makes sense. These nightmares, they're not normal. People don't just have the same nightmare over and over whenever they close their eyes out of the blue like this. And definitely not all three of us. Pair that with the Master Emerald acting all weird? We're not really left with a lot of options."

"But—" Tails cleared his throat when his word came out as nothing more than a breath. "The nightmares…how could the Metarex get in our heads like that?"

"They've done it before."

Tails turned around at the sound of Cosmo's chillingly even voice behind him. She stood in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. She gripped the doorframe hard enough that Tails could see her knuckles whiten. "They got in my head and used my brain to see and hear what I did. And then they got in Sonic's head enough to actually control him. Giving us nightmares would be the least of what they've done."

"You can't just throw something out like that without proof!" Knuckles snapped. He leaned forward in his seat, twisting to face Sonic. "That's not fair!"

The corner of Sonic's mouth twitched upward for an instant before falling again. "Why? We're not in court."

Knuckles gestured to the room at large. His hand particularly lingered on the doorway to the kitchen. "How about causing a panic?"

Cream suddenly snapped, "You think I can't handle it?"

Cheese chirped beside her as the room turned to look at Cream. She stood beside Cosmo, leaning back against the doorframe with arms locked against her chest. She continued, "We've all faced the Metarex before. It's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather worry needlessly than die because you wanted to protect my ignorance."

"That's not what I meant," Knuckles fumbled. "I just meant…" He winced. "How can we know for sure? We can't just say they're back without a plan to stop them."

"I do have an idea," Sonic offered.

"You do?" Amy said, leaning away from in surprise.

Sonic shrugged. "We hire the Chaotix to do some detective work for us."

"You've got to be kidding," Knuckles muttered. "That's the big plan?"

"Mother trusts Vector," Cream said firmly. But then her face fell. "Though Vector only works for pay."

"Yeah," Knuckles agreed. "And the only two of us have any money are Amy and Tails."

"I need my money for building," Tails said softly. He stared at the ground rather than any of their faces. "And if the Metarex really are back, there are a few repairs I need to make pronto if we're going to stand a fighting chance."

"And my money's emergency only," Amy declared with a nod.

"This sort of _is_ an emergency," Sonic pointed out.

Amy's eyes snapped to him. "Not that type. Not money for detective work. I meant for supplies. We need that money in case the Metarex do attack."

"We're trying to find out if they're attacking," Sonic explained.

"But then the money will be gone and the info won't do us much good!"

"But the money also won't do us much good if we don't know to use it."

In the face of Sonic's patience, Amy's frustration evaporated. She stared at Sonic for a long moment before her shoulders finally fell. "I don't know what to do," she admitted. She shook her head. "It's all too messed up. We weren't supposed to be in this sort of situation again. I thought the time change had made it so we wouldn't have to do this again."

Tails's twin namesakes wrapped around him from behind as he locked his arms against his chest. Amy just said what had been on his mind already—all of their minds, probably. "What do we do if they are back?" Tails whispered. "They're already in our heads. What chance do we stand against them? We've barely started and—"

"Hey."

Sonic's hand landed on Tails's shoulder before Tails realized Sonic had gotten to his feet and bridged the gap between them. "Hope is stronger than fear, remember?" Sonic said.

Tails pressed his lips together to stop the continuing string of words still bubbling to the surface. He nodded. Sonic's smile widened. "If they are back," he said slowly, "then we'll take them on like we always do. Together. It's nothing we haven't beaten before. They just like coming back for more to get their butts kicked again." And he winked.

Tails forced a thin breath out from his lips. With it, he tried to breathe out the rising tension. He could feel his thoughts slipping inside his head. As tired as he was, he couldn't think straight. And facing the possibility of the Metarex on top of that…

So he nodded. He smiled at Sonic. "Together," he agreed.


	4. Scars Don't Heal

Surprise and happy new year! To celebrate, I've got a new chapter for you. Though, to be fair, I can't promise it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside like new beginnings should...but you probably don't expect that from my writing by now. Anyway, enjoy!

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**Chapter Four: Scars Don't Heal**

_11/2/2009_

_Dear journal,_

_Right now, we're stuck waiting for news from the Chaotix. News about whether or not the Metarex are back. It's like holding your breath, right? You stand at the edge of a cliff, your toes hanging over the chasm below. You wonder if gravity will really drag you down if you take that step forward. You shouldn't dare to hope that it won't but you do._

_That's how it feels like, waiting. Like my gut tells me I already know the answer but hope refuses to let go until it sees actual evidence. And so come in the Chaotix. It may have been a crazy idea to trust them with the job. After all, they're followed by disaster. Or…they are the disaster. But I've never known them not to get the job done._

_Though the wait is killer. Patience has never been my best trait. Especially when my friends are panicking around me. Nobody's going to get any sleep, maybe not even those who don't have these persistent nightmares. After all, if the Metarex are back, then the nightmare has only really just begun. _

_-Sonic the Hedgehog_

Sonic twirled the pen between his fingertips, staring down at the writing he'd left behind on the page of his notebook. He heart shuddered at frantic pace, as if he'd been running, not writing. His elbows pressed down against the bumpy tablecloth that covered Amy's kitchen table. The gentle sensation at the edge of his consciousness helped cement him in the present. Even as his memory tried to pull him away to a dark past. Or was it the future? Present? At the very least, a history that hadn't happened.

_A single cell._

_A single bed._

_Numb pain stinging his limbs as his thoughts fuzzed out around the edges._

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut and forced out a slow, nearly silent breath. Maybe the five years of torture he had endured at the hands of the Metarex hadn't really happened, but if the Metarex were back, who was to say that history wouldn't repeat itself?

To distract himself, he focused his attention on the sounds of Amy moving around at the kitchen counters beyond where he sat at her table. Without opening his eyes, he forced himself to picture her. Picture her standing at the mixer, now silent, checking the consistency of her batter. Thought about the smattering of ingredients in shades of white standing in a row on her counter. He pictured her dusted in white, vanishing the pink of her quills in the snow of flour.

He knew baking was as much a distraction technique for her as him paying attention to her baking was for him. Just like working through X-Tornado repairs and battle plans with Chris was for Tails. All of them busy…all of them cracking just around the edges.

And then, suddenly, Amy gasped.

Sonic's eyes flashed open just in time to see Amy disappear from view as she dropped behind the counter, followed by more than one crash. Sonic shoved the chair he sat in back so fast that it tumbled to the floor, but the sound barely registered in Sonic's head, his mind still focused on the lingering echo of Amy's crash. He dashed around the counter to find Amy sitting there, staring at the mess of flour and sugar around her with blank, unblinking eyes. "Are you okay?" Sonic exclaimed.

Amy's eyes drifted upward to meet Sonic's, but even as their eyes met, hers remained just as blank as when they had observed the mess surrounding her. "Even for you, that's a stupid question," she whispered without the slightest hint of inflection.

Sonic winced, but before he could say a word in reaction, Amy swiped her hand across her eyes and exclaimed, "I'm _exhausted, _Sonic. I'm seriously so exhausted that I just _fell_. How could I possibly be okay?"

Sonic frowned. "No, you're right. Stupid question." He picked his way over the mess until he reached Amy and lowered himself to the ground at her side. He stared at her hand, wondering if he should take it, or if she would just slap his away.

"If the Metarex _are _back, we're _screwed,_" Amy snapped. "How are we ever going to fight them if we're so tired from these nightmares?"

Sonic forced the teeth he wanted to grit to instead pull into a grin. "No need to worry. We'll figure out a way. I'm sure the Chaos Emeralds will help."

Amy raised an eyebrow at him without saying a word. She didn't need to; Sonic knew her well enough that he could feel the full weight of her judgement in even that simple little gesture. Even so, Sonic refused to allow his grin to fade. But he did allow it to soften into something more genuine so he could convincingly lie to her when he said, "We beat them twice, there's no way we can't do it again. We're stronger than them in every way."

He punctuated his lie by finally reaching out and taking her hand. She stared at where their hands met in a long silence that Sonic didn't bear break, lest his lie finally falter.

_So much for that "no more lies" promise,_ he thought. The memory of that stung at his skull.

Amy closed her eyes and released a slow breath. When she opened her eyes again, the smallest of smiles bloomed to life across her lips. "If you say so," she finally agreed. "After all, you went through more than the rest of us. If you can handle it, I have no right to say I can't."

It took all of Sonic's strength to hold Amy's gaze and keep himself from wincing.

-(-)-

Guilt built like a weight in Sonic's muscles. Like a medicine ball against his chest, he nearly suffocated against it. Even after he left Amy behind, having helped her clean up the mess of flour and sugar in her kitchen so she could begin baking again, the memory of the lie he twisted into near fairy tale to Amy built an ache in his lungs that he felt with every breath.

"_If you can handle it, I have no right to say I can't._"

Like always, Sonic had more than his own weight to carry. If his faith faltered, so would that of his friends. So long as he held strong, they would hold on alongside him. He could show not a moment of weakness. Even though he felt it surge through his veins as surely as his blood.

And so he ran, as if he could outrun all the things he felt.

Running fast for the love of speed was one thing, fueled by adrenaline and wonder at the strength in his legs and his lungs. But right now, his eyes flicked around the scenery rushing past, hardly daring to blink. The fur on the back of his neck stood on end and all the muscles in his legs stiffened, a tightness he had to push past in order to keep on moving.

Being caught mid-run was not the way he wanted to find out the Metarex were back.

He probably should not have been running out in the open at all, even less so on his way far from home. But if the Metarex had indeed returned and the Chaotix confirmed their worst fears, they would need a place to hide. Perhaps it would make sense to shelter in the base that had hid them during the Changed War.

Or, at the very least, it was an excuse that gave Sonic something to _do_, so maybe his lie that everything would be okay could at least begin to have some sort of foundation in truth.

Though the base that Sonic's friends had chosen during the Changed War was on the opposite side of Mobius from the place they typically called home, Sonic's speed ensured that it took little time for him to reach it.

He halted still several hundred feet away from its front door. The abrupt stop from high speed dragged him forward just a little further before he steadied. And suddenly, Sonic was eerily aware of the stillness surrounding him as he stared at that modest, aging house.

The grass he stood on was overgrown and tangled beneath his sneakers, like someone had forgotten to care for it, perhaps for years. And within that wild lawn sat a house. A house that was technically _whole_ but only technically. Paint peeled from the sides and dents damaged the front door. The roof dipped in slightly on one side but as far as Sonic could tell bore no actual hole. No lights burned in the windows.

It was uncanny, seeing this place again. A sensation just short of a chill drifted across the surface of Sonic's skin. It seemed more like something out of a terrible dream rather than a reality of his past. Which, considering those memories had never truly occurred, was not all that far from the truth.

After a moment, Sonic urged himself forward to the front door. Finding it unlocked, he pushed the door in, the hinges squeaking the whole way. "Hello? Anyone around?" he called inside.

Sonic hesitated for only a moment more as he was met with silence, before he crossed the threshold and pushed the door closed behind him. In what had once been their living room, cardboard boxes were stacked almost as tall as Sonic. _Is this what it was like when they first moved in here? _he wondered.

He continued creeping through the room. For once, he didn't speed through, not that he could with all the clutter. Instead, he stepped over fallen boxes, twisted his body around towers of forgotten personal items, as he moved through the living room and down the hall. He strained his ears to listen for any sound. For all he knew, someone still lived here.

On autopilot, his feet carried him toward the room that had once been his. Again, standing in front of that door felt like déjà vu. In his mind's eye, he could picture the ad hoc paint job he had executed alongside Cosmo and Tails to make the space livable. But when he pressed his hand against the door to push it open, that wasn't what he was met with. He shouldn't have been, since it never happened.

And still his heart froze.

Not because the room didn't look exactly as it was supposed to. The walls were bland, more off-white than white, given its lack of care. Stacks of boxes stood in the corners, as they had in the living room. All was as he remembered it to be before the space became his room. But that wasn't what chilled him to the core.

No, that was the notebook laying right in the middle of the floor. The one he had written during the Changed War.

The one that shouldn't exist.

Sonic bolted forward and snatched up the journal. He held his breath as he thumbed through the pages. But it didn't stop the pages from being filled with his hand-writing.

_The girl from my vision showed up, and according to Amy, she's apparently some fairy from Majyk—_

_We had a friend named Cosmo. Not…__that__ Cosmo. Another one. We called her C2. And yeah, that's past tense._

_I'm surviving on borrowed time. When my friends saved me, I thought it was a second chance. I could be free and alive again. _

Sonic barely dared to breathe. If he did, he was sure he would choke. He flipped the notebook closed, pressing them together tight in his grip. He squeezed his eyes shut. But it did nothing to steady him; instead, he felt his hand shaking.

He spun around on his heel and dashed from his room to Amy. And if possible, his heart dropped even further. Because at the end of a bare mattress lay the journal he'd seen her writing in during the Changed War. When he flipped through the pages, he saw the tiny hearts intermixed with her script. Definitely her handwriting.

And on shaking legs, he turned again. And stumbled into Tails's room. Only to find a pile of journals stacked against the wall.

Sonic's jaw dropped. His hand scrambled to grab the doorframe to steady himself against. When his knees finally stopped shaking, he stepped forward to grab the journal off the top of the stack and flipped it open.

_December__19th, 2011_

_Dear journal,_

_I feel like the world is falling on top of me. I thought that if Sonic came back, it would mean…victory or something. It would our nightmare is over. But if the Metarex caught him, broke him…changed him, they can get me easily._

_..Miles "Tails" Prower_

Sonic flipped the notebook closed again. He pressed his hand down against the cover. His heart thundered in his throat, threatening to choke him. _Not possible, _said a thought in his head.

After all, the Metarex couldn't be back. They couldn't have travelled back in time. The notebooks couldn't exist.

The notebooks in his hands spoke another truth entirely. And while Sonic could urge a lie out for Amy's sake, it wasn't so easily to tell himself a fairy tale.


	5. More for Their Money

The world's a bit of a chaotic and scary place right now. And since writing fanfiction is keeping me sane, I thought I'd get you guys the next chapter here. Enjoy!

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**Chapter Five: More for Their Money**

_Nov. 5, 2009_

_Dear Diary:_

_It's only been four days since we asked the Chaotix for help, but it feels more like four years. Sonic, Tails, and I are half-dead with exhaustion because we're too scared to sleep. Sonic's functioning on adrenaline alone, I think, running anywhere he can around home, hoping the wind will keep him awake. Tails and I are running on coffee. We all desperately need sleep, but we can't._

_I really hope we find out what's going on soon. I don't know how much longer we can take this. And even if we find out what's going on, it's not like the nightmares will stop. Plus then we'll have the Metarex to deal with. There's no situation in which we win with this sort of news._

_Love,_

_Amy Rose_

Amy slid her fingers through the handle of her mug and pulled her coffee toward her. She felt her mind buzzing on the caffeine but dragging because of its lack of sleep. She knew she looked like an absolute wreck, wide eyes with dark circles ringing the bottom, fingers shaking, lip bleeding at her anxious teeth dug too deep. She must look like some sort of crazed maniac, but what was she supposed to do? There was no way she was going to fall asleep.

She was all alone at home. Sonic was out running, doing what he could to stay awake. Tails was busy working on the Blue Typhoon with Chris. Amy wondered if she should head to Cream's house. At least she wouldn't be alone there, but her friends would probably worry about her the whole time. Eyes watching her every move, adding guilt to the exhausting twist of emotions within her.

Amy stifled a yawn, and her hand froze in mid-air a few inches in front of her mouth. She stared at it in horror. After a moment, she balled her hand into a fist and used it to push herself to her feet. _I'd rather feel guilty than see Sonic die again._

-(-)-

Amy's knuckles fell against Cream's door and refused to lift away to rap once again. She stared blearily at her hand against the wood. Her arm looked more like an inanimate object than a part of her body for as much as she could control it. When Cream pulled the door back to allow Amy entry, Amy's arm fell through the sudden empty air. "You have any coffee?" were the first words Amy managed to mumble to her friend. But the consonants slurred over one another.

_Coffee probably isn't supposed to keep you awake for four days, _she thought. But unless there was some physical adrenaline shot she could self-administer, coffee was all she had.

Cream offered Amy a worried smile, eyebrows pulled together, as she affirmed the existence of caffeine within her mother's home and led Amy back to the kitchen. Cosmo already stood next to the counter, pastry bag in hand as she piped orange frosting around the edges of a white cake. She looked up when the two of them walked into the kitchen, but unlike Cream, Cosmo was unable to pair a smile with her look of worry in response to whatever she saw on Amy's face.

Honestly, Amy didn't have the energy to be aware of something as minute as her own expression.

Instead, without a word, she stepped over and picked up a second piping bag that had been left behind on the counter, probably from Cream when she went to answer the door. She tightened her fingers around the bag and when she lifted it before her eyes, she saw how it shivered. Was it her arms shaking or her vision? Amy wasn't sure. But she narrowed her eyes all the same and tightened her grip. The least she could do was focus on something as simple as piping frosting.

Otherwise…

But her head was heavy and her arms were heavy and her eyes were heavy and the room was warm and full of the smell of sugar and home and…

_And then there was a hallway._

_Fear rushing through her veins rather than blood._

_And Sonic laying like a ragdoll in a capsule._

Amy's eyes flashed open with a gasp from her lungs. Her face was wet with tears before she realized her eyes were full of them in the first place. They slid from the corners of her eyes down into her quills. And for a moment, that sensation of salty wetness was far more real than the ceiling above her or the floor beneath her head or the strike of pain pounding against the back of her skull.

"Amy—Amy, are you okay?"

Amy tilted her head to the right to see Cream kneeling at her side. She held Amy's hand in both of her own and only at the sight did she finally recognize Cream's tight grip around her fingers. But it was much easier to focus her gaze on where their hands met rather than the wide-eyed fear on Cream's face. For a long moment, she said nothing, just staring at Cream's hand around her own as tears slid down the sides of her face.

After a long moment—seconds, days?—Amy reached back with her other hand to press against where the throbbing in her skull lived. "My head hurts," she said. But her voice sounded like it belonged to someone else.

"Cosmo's getting Mother," Cream assured her.

Amy turned her gaze back to Cream but said nothing. "Ch-chao!" Cheese cried, hovering above her. Amy shifted her eyes to the tiny chao. Amy couldn't bring herself to smile, even to rid him of the fear in his own big eyes.

-(-)-

Amy dropped into a chair at Vanilla's kitchen table, Vanilla herself at her side, arms stretched out but not touching Amy, just in case she stumbled. Cream pushed a bag of ice into Amy's hands. For a moment, Amy just stared at the frozen cubes inside the bag, her mind sliding like ice as she struggled to put her thoughts together, as she struggled to remember what the ice was for in the first place. But the pain at the back of her skull bit her and reminded her of the ice's purpose. A moment later, Cream pushed something hot into Amy's hands, so much the opposite of the ice that Amy winced at the sudden heat before she recognized the mug of coffee for what it was. "Thanks," Amy said, mustering up a smile. Though she was almost certain it had to look more like a grimace.

She jumped a moment later at the sound of Cosmo sliding Vanilla's home phone back into its charger. "Tails said Sonic's nearby, so he'll tell him what happened."

Cream slid slowly into a seat at the kitchen table, looking down at her hands clasped in front of her for a long moment before she lifted her eyes to Amy's face. "You know it's not the _real_ Sonic in your nightmares. It's the _other _Sonic."

"Chao-ch-chao-chao," Cheese agreed. He settled down on the table though his tiny wings flickered with agitation.

"I know," Amy sighed. She lowered her eyes to the dark surface of her coffee and watched it shiver just as she did. After a long moment, she added, "It's just…when it actually happened, I thought it _was _Sonic. So in the nightmares it feels like Sonic too."

She lifted the mug to her lips, but she didn't feel the initial bite of caffeine like she usually did. It might as well have been herbal tea. Everything in her mind was dull, frozen in her fear. Her entire body felt numb. She was barely conscious of people talking around her, instead staring down into her coffee. She knew she was out of it, but she didn't really care.

Amy felt a rush of wind push her quills back before she realized Sonic was at her side. He leaned over, bracing his elbows against the table in front of him, so that he was at eye-level with Amy. But she didn't turn her gaze to him. Though she could see him out of the corner of her eye, it took too much focus for her to shift her eyes away from the surface of her coffee. "Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice.

For once, Amy did not pour herself out to the hedgehog. She didn't burst into tears and swing her arms around his shoulders. Instead, she collapsed sideways so her bodyweight fell against his side. Sonic stiffened beneath her.

"No," she whispered.

He lifted an arm away from the table so that he could instead wrap it around her shoulder awkwardly so that she wouldn't fall beneath his shifting. "What do I need to do?" he asked.

"Make them go away." Her voice cracked now.

Amy felt Sonic's warm breath on her face as he sighed. "I—" But he hesitated. And then he didn't finish whatever sentence he thought he would be starting.

The phone rang, and Amy jumped, shoving away from Sonic's side in an instant. "It's okay," Sonic told her. He held both of his empty hands out in front of her, as if to show her he meant her no harm. Amy just stared at his bare palms, feeling far too much like a frightened, feral deer.

"Sonic?"

Only at the sound of Vanilla's voice behind him did Sonic finally turn away from Amy. Amy lifted her eyes as well, but it felt like a reaction rather than an action. Vanilla said, "Vector says he would like to speak with you," before she handed the phone to Sonic.

"Thanks," he said and pressed the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

Sonic kept one arm around Amy as he spoke. All the while, Amy held her breath as she stared up at Sonic's eyes, fixed on some point across the kitchen. "How'd you get it so fast?…yeah, I'm at Vanilla's…uh…could you tell us all at once? Tails and Chris are on their way now, and I could go grab Knuckles…yeah, just come here…okay, then."

Sonic pulled the hand away from his face. "He's got news."

"What kind?" Amy barely dared to whisper.

Sonic stared at the phone in his hand. Was it just that he couldn't bear to look at Amy's face while it was so broken? "We'll find out together," he said.

-(-)-

When Sonic finally returned with Knuckles at his side, Amy sat on Vanilla's living room couch, absently watching the chaos of the Chaotix as Vector "attempted" flirtation with Vanilla as Charmy played the role of "wingman." Vanilla laughed with gentle amusement, though Chris observed the whole scene with a raised eyebrow from the opposite side of the room. Tails looked much the same as Amy, though he leaned against the wall beside Cosmo, watching the scene before him without really seeing it. The dark circles beneath his eyes glowed with the urgency of severe bruises.

Amy could barely make her head turn to Sonic at the sound of the opening front door, much less get up to greet Sonic, so instead he crossed to her and dropped down on the couch. When Amy's head fell against his shoulder, he stiffened again. Though neither of them said a word.

Knuckles, meanwhile, swung himself into a chair, crossing his arms against his chest. He snapped, "Sonic says you've got news. So do you or don't you?"

Only then did Vector look up from his flirtation. Espio—sitting cross-legged against the wall—rolled his eyes at the sight. Charmy dashed forward, his buzzing wings keeping me up in the air as he launched himself within a foot of Knuckles's face. "Yeah, we've got news!" Charmy exclaimed.

Cream stepped into the doorway that stood between the kitchen and the living room. Cheese settled into her arms, and Cream adjusted so that she held him there.

Chris asked, "What do you have for us, Vector?"

"Yeah, yeah," Vector said, turning to face all of them. "Listen, don't get mad at me or nothing when I tell you, okay? No shooting the messenger."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "Tell us, will you? Before I'm fifty?"

Vector scanned the room, for once hesitating, a look of seriousness on his face that looked anything but at home among Vector's features. Amy felt a shiver trace her spine. Vector took a deep breath. "The Metarex…they're back."

Amy's heart iced.

She no longer felt Sonic beside her.

She no longer saw the scene in front of her.

_They're back._

"It would seem they're building an army," Espio added. "We discovered their forces not far from here, including what appeared to be several thousand lesser Metarex."

_Several…thousand?_

Espio's eyes fell closed. "It also seems they've kidnapped Rouge."

Amy lifted her head from Sonic's shoulder, suddenly stiff. _That…can't be right._ She slowly turned to Knuckles. In the place of narrow-eyed anger, Knuckles now displayed wide eyes and a mouth fallen open. It took him another moment to choke out, "How?"

"They caught her," Charmy said.

The next thing Amy knew, Sonic was no longer next to her. Instead, he stood across the room, arms shoved out in front of him, grasping Knuckles's shoulders as Knuckles tried to shove through the barrier between himself and Charmy. "Cool it, Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed.

Knuckles struggled for another moment before he relaxed. "Whatever," he muttered.

Sonic released Knuckles, and Knuckles fell back into the chair. Sonic came back over and sat next to Amy again, taking her hand in his as he did so. Amy failed to miss the way his fingers twitched in her grip. She turned her eyes to his face and saw nothing there that gave away the anxiety she felt running through him.

"What're we going to do, Sonic?" Cream asked anxiously.

"Chao-chao!" Cheese exclaimed.

"What we always do: fight back," Sonic said. Still his features remained the same: determined, level-headed, maybe the hint of a smirk on his lips. But Amy could feel his hand twitch with anxiety. "We're not letting the Metarex win."

"I'm guessing you're going to need some help with that."

The new voice startled the room's occupants. They all turned toward the door. Standing there was the always vibrant Princess Nova of Majyk and the dark Shadow the Hedgehog. Nova, the one who had spoken before, smiled. "Long time no see."


	6. The Ways We Deal With Disaster

**Chapter Six: The Ways We Deal With Disaster**

_How?_

_I think my jaw just dropped. How is Nova here? She's not from this freaking planet and she's just here right now? _

_I almost can't feel Amy's hand in mine anymore but her grip's tight enough that it makes me wince and reminds me where I am right now._

_How could Nova know the Metarex were back? Unless they're already attacking Majyk. But then she would be much more frantic. Then she'd probably be _on_ Majyk. _

Sonic stared at Nova, too stunned to respond. He managed to pick his jaw up the floor, but his thoughts failed to align words into a sentence that he could speak. At least he was in good company, since it seemed none of his friends surrounding him were able to do any better. Maybe it was the sudden appearance of Nova. Maybe it was the fact that her pink and green dress was vibrant enough to burn eyes. After the silence went on for longer than just a few seconds, Nova rolled her eyes, settling her weight on her back foot. "Uh…hello?" she said slowly.

"How are you here?" Knuckles exclaimed.

Nova sighed, shoulders falling in what Sonic could only describe as exhaustion. "Great to see you too," she muttered.

Nova crossed the distance between her and the larger group, Shadow walking in her footsteps behind her. When she slowed to a stop once more, she braced her hands on her hips. "Anyone other than Shadow and me having excruciating, repetitive nightmares?"

Sonic blinked. He glanced sidelong at Tails to see his little brother's eyes already on him, already wide. Sonic turned back to Nova. "Me, Tails, and Amy. Guess that proves that the Metarex are behind it." Then he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "But you don't look tired. Neither of you do."

She shrugged. "Magic." When she gestured with her hand, yellow sparks momentarily flickered across the tips of her fingers before vanishing once more. "Magic-induced sleep. It's the only way I can avoid waking up screaming."

"Screaming?" Amy said. Her voice broke even though it was little more than a whisper. The sound of it was enough to make Sonic clench his fingers around hers.

But Nova apparently didn't hear Amy's quiet voice. Instead, she followed Shadow's gaze over to the Chaotix. "And you are?" she asked.

"We're the Chaotix Detective Agency!" Vector announced.

Nova nodded slowly. "So you're the ones who know what's going on." Though Sonic saw her eyebrows raised, like she was skeptical. Not such a terrible instinct.

Charmy zipped up to her, his wings flittering as quickly as ever. She stumbled back a step to avoid his near-collision with her face. Shadow caught her elbow to steady her. "I'm Charmy!" he exclaimed, unperturbed. "Did you know Knuckles's girlfriend was kidnapped by the Metarex?"

Though Sonic watched Nova and Charmy, he still caught the flash of red movement out of the corner of his eye. Before he could even think, he threw himself forward, crashing into Knuckles and knocking him to the ground just before Knuckles was able to launch himself at Charmy. Sonic grabbed Knuckles's shoulders down while the echidna struggled on the carpet against him. "What is wrong with you?" Sonic exclaimed

"Get off of me!" Knuckles demanded.

"You're out of control."

"I am _not_." Knuckles tried to shove his elbow back into Sonic's stomach, but Sonic just barely managed to twist out of the way.

Sonic twisted sideways so he could prop up his head in his hand, as if Knuckles's body made a perfectly leisurely sofa. "You're trying to attack a nine-year-old," he pointed out.

"Do you want to take this outside?" Knuckles snarled.

Sonic rolled his eyes. But despite everything, the warmth of amusement rose up in his chest. "Sure, if you want to."

"Fine!"

Sonic jumped back off Knuckles fast enough that Knuckles missed when he tried to ram his shoulders back into Sonic. From there, Knuckles just growled and shoved himself to his feet, stomping past Nova and Shadow on his way out the door. Nova's head turned as she watched him go, her jaw dropped open. "What just—"

"It happens a lot," Amy muttered. Sonic glanced at her in time to see her rolling her eyes. But there was more color in her face than there had been in days. A spark of normality in the midst of the unknown.

"It's how Knuckles and Sonic solve their differences," Tails agreed. When Sonic looked his way, he saw the tiny smirk lighting up the corners of Tails's lips.

It fueled Sonic in a way sleep never could.

He turned back to Nova to see her still frowning. "But I've never seen the two of you fight like that. How can that be normal?" she asked.

"That's because this is our first time ever meeting," Sonic said with a wink. Nova scowled, which did nothing to deter the humor in Sonic's heart.

After all, if humor was all he had left to turn to, he would cling to it.

Nova and Shadow stepped aside to allow Sonic room to slip past them and out the door to find Knuckles cracking his fingers in the middle of the yard in front of Vanilla's house. He glowered at the space in front of the front door, even before Sonic arrived there, as far as he could tell. "You kidding me, Knux?" Sonic exclaimed, continuing forward toward Knuckles. "You're getting hot-headed over something Charmy said. _Charmy_."

But Knuckles didn't bother with words. With a roar, he instead dashed forward, drawing back his fist. At the last second, Sonic jumped back. Knuckles's fist slid through the air with only inches to spare.

Sonic wasted no time. He launched himself forward and unlike Knuckles, Sonic's fist met its mark, crashing into Knuckles's stomach.

Knuckles stumbled backward, not knocked down, but gasping for air. Sonic paused as Knuckles gathered himself. "You done?" Sonic asked. "'Cuz I'm still trying to figure out why you're so nuts."

Knuckles glared at the dirt beneath his sneakers rather than at Sonic's face. Through clenched teeth, he muttered something at the ground too quiet for Sonic to hear.

"What?"

Knuckles's head shot up, and he yelled, "I don't know, okay? Charmy shouldn't be treating this like a joke. The Metarex are back. And Rouge could be dead by now for all we know."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, offering Knuckles a smirk. But not meanly. And Sonic was sure Knuckles knew him well enough to tell the difference. "She's not dead," Sonic told him. "Rouge doesn't go down like that. Plus she's probably just bait for us. And you know how Charmy can be. It's stupid for you to go over the top just for him."

Knuckles groaned. "I know, all right? I'm sorry."

Sonic grinned. "It's fine, Knux. But we should really be inside. Making a plan to save your _girlfriend_."

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Sonic laughed. There was the Knuckles he knew. Still inside the echidna after all. "Whatever you say."

Sonic walked back toward Cream's house and through the door. "We're good," he announced and dropped next to Amy again. Amy lowered her head onto his shoulder without a word but her skin felt warmer than before.

As Knuckles pushed the door closed behind him with his shoulder, Chris asked, "So what's the plan? It's not as though it's smart to wait and allow the Metarex to gather their power and make themselves known."

"First things first, we gotta save Rouge," Sonic said, his eyes cutting sideways to Knuckles for an instant before he settled his gaze on Vector. "Did you guys figure out where the Metarex are holding her?"

"Yeah. They've got a base built out, the whole shebang," Vector explained.

"So we infiltrate," Sonic said with a grin, meant to feign the confidence he didn't actually feel. "Split up into teams, come from a bunch of angles so they can't focus their forces."

Amy lifted her head in order to offer Sonic a hard glare. "I hate it when you say 'split up.'"

Sonic winced at the reminder of his plan that had become Amy's own nightmare. "Not going to happen again," he told her, though he knew well enough that words wouldn't be enough to assure her.

"Tonight," Knuckles grunted with a scowl.

Sonic raised his eyes to his friend, still standing at the door with his arms locked against his chest. Knuckles's eyes were already waiting for Sonic's, daring him to disagree. But Sonic just dipped his head. "Tonight," he agreed.


	7. Break In

**Chapter Seven: Break In**

_Nov. 9__th__, 2009_

_Dear journal,_

_We're going to investigate a Metarex base tonight to try to save Rouge, who was kidnapped. Which…is not a sentence I thought I would be saying when this day started. Before today, we didn't even have proof that the Metarex were back. Now we're running a rescue mission against them. _

_Nova offered to magically induce sleep for me and Amy so we'd be more alert when we went on our mission later Which, yeah, I accepted. And now I'm not sure if I'm actually awake or just fueled by anxious adrenaline. I can't remember the last time I didn't have a nightmare when I slept. Amy looks much better too. And we'll need as much energy as we can get._

_I'm just praying we'll all get out of here okay. Or at least alive. That's all I can ask for._

_..Miles "Tails" Prower_

Tails closed his notebook and turned his head toward the window over his shoulder, taking in the black sky. It felt weird being at Cream's house so late. It felt so weird to be sitting still and yet fighting for even breaths.

Cosmo walked into the living room and handed Tails the coffee she carried. He smiled and thanked her before taking a sip. It was hot and strong, which was good. It would help him wake up and stay that way, seeing as he'd only woken up from the magically induced sleep minutes before. "Tails?" Cosmo whispered hesitantly.

Tails looked up from his coffee. Took in the tightness of worry behind Cosmo's eyes. After a second, she lowered her eyes, hesitating. "What's wrong, Cosmo?"

"How can they be back?" Her voice, so small, so quiet, sent a shot of chill down Tails's spine. "How can they keep coming back? When I immobilized Dark Oak, when I gave up _everything_…did I…did I mess up? Did I cause this?"

Tails's voice caught in his throat so suddenly, he nearly choked. For a moment, it felt like his head was full of cotton that blocked out all the space he normally spent on thoughts. He cleared his throat. He lowered his shaking hands so that he didn't send hot coffee spilling across his skin. "You couldn't have caused this." He wished his words offered more assurance but they shook as much as his hands.

"What other explanation can there be?" she asked. She pressed both hands to the center of her chest. "I've never known of such a resurrection to be possible for my species, and I don't know the Metarex to be any different. The only peculiar thing about their end was our final encounter."

"But that wasn't because of you," Tails insisted. He put his coffee on the table beside him to free up his hands. And then he readjusted so he kneeled on the chair rather than sat. In that position, he was almost eye-level with Cosmo and he reached out to take her hands in his. "What you did, that saved everybody. The Metarex coming back again isn't your fault."

_But maybe it's mine. Because I'm the one who shot you. _

-(-)-

_Sonic's View_

Sonic slid into the kitchen to find Amy sitting at the kitchen table in the same space he had found her earlier that day (how could it possibly still be that same day?). He pulled out the seat next to her at the table and dropped into it. "You feeling any better?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. The green of her irises was muted somewhat by the steam of the coffee wafting up in front of them. Even so, they looked far less muddled than they had this morning. Even a small smile graced her lips. "All it took was a bit of magic."

Sonic looked up to where Cream stood busy at the counter. "Is there anymore coffee?"

As Cream offered him an affirmative smile and made her way over to the brewer, Sonic returned his eyes to Amy. But the smile on her face before had been replaced with a confused frown. "Since when do you drink coffee?"

Sonic laughed. "I do when I haven't slept in days, and I need to be awake to stop the Metarex."

Cream pushed a cup of coffee into Sonic's hands and he thanked her. Amy said, "You could've had Nova use her magic on you too."

Sonic scowled at her over the top of his mug, but it only lasted an instant before he turned his attention to cooling the coffee enough to take a sip. Amy rolled her eyes in response. "What a time to grow weird principles."

But Sonic knew she was aware of his aversion to Nova's magic. He was used to the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Everything "other" just reminded him of his run-ins with the fake Emeralds produced by the Metarex.

When Cream slipped out of the kitchen, Sonic offered Amy his hand. She frowned at it for just a second before pressing the tips of her fingers against his. Sonic curled his fingers around hers and without a word, led her into the living room to join their friends. Amy lowered herself onto the couch and Sonic jumped up to the arm beside her, though careful not to spill his coffee in the process.

Cream joined Cosmo across the room, and they stood just beside Tails, who frowned at something on the red screen of his headset. Although the room's occupants talked casually, Sonic felt the tension in the air like a physical thing. Just when they thought the Metarex were gone for good, the Metarex proved them wrong. Sonic glanced around at his friends. Cosmo…Cream…Cheese…Tails…Amy. And of them end up dead tonight. The Metarex weren't a joke.

Sonic put his arm around Amy and took another sip of his coffee. These could be his last precious moments with her. "Sonic?" Amy said softly.

Sonic looked down at her. "What's up?

Amy leaned her shoulder into his side. "I love you."

"I know that," he whispered.

Amy raised her eyes to his face. "I know that" was not the reply she was looking for, and Sonic knew it. It felt odd to him, saying the _other_ phrase. But this could be his last moment to ever tell her. "Love you too," he said before kissing her softly on the head.

Amy leaned her head against Sonic's stomach. Sonic could feel her warm breaths run across his fur and the skin beneath it.

The door opened them then, and Sonic glanced back. Nova walked in with Shadow. They made much more sense together now since both of them now were covered in black, Shadow naturally so, of course. Nova now wore a black, long sleeved shirt, ripped in several places to reveal a red shirt beneath. She wore a black cargo skirt that went down to mid-thigh. She also wore black sneakers and a red headband. Her headset was on her head.

Nova nodded and went to sit in one of the chairs left in the room. Shadow leaned against the back of her chair. He glanced warily at her every few seconds. Sonic understood why, sending a glance down at Amy.

Out of the corner of Sonic's eye, he saw Tails's eyes widen. "You ready?" Tails whispered into the microphone of his headset.

Sonic tensed up, and Amy shivered beside him. Nova's eyes widened, and Shadow's eyes flickered to her. Tails squeezed Cosmo's hand. "All right," Tails murmured. "We're on our way."

Sonic pushed himself off the arm of the couch. "It's time?"

Tails nodded slowly. Sonic looked at Amy, offering his hand to her. She stared at it a moment before taking it, and Sonic pulled her up. Nova slowly stood up herself. Shadow silently drifted to her side. Tails looked sideways at Cosmo.

Every second slowly grew to a minute in length; every minute, an hour. When death was around the corner, life became that much more important.

Sonic shrugged. "Let's do this."


	8. Break Down

In celebration of certain blue hedgehog's birthday...I've got a new chapter of _Darkened Chaos _for all of you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC! I hope all of you are able to celebrate by enjoying some fanfiction.

Let me know what you think with a review!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Break Down**

_This isn't real. This can't be real. This is worse than the nightmare. This can't be our lives now._

Amy stalked Sonic's racing shadow in the darkness of night. She listened to each of his breaths, singling them out among her other friends over her headset. She felt dazed, darkness edging at her vision in an almost out-of-body experience. "Blur," she whispered, "move back a little."

Sonic glanced back over his shoulder and slowed down so he was only a footstep or two ahead of Amy. "Amy?" he murmured.

Amy ran her fingertips over Sonic's hand. He closed his hand around hers. Sonic sighed but said nothing, just dragging her along with him.

"We'll be at the base in two minutes," Tails said over the headsets. "From there, we'll split up. No one go straight to Rouge's position, and be prepared for Metarex attack."

Amy swallowed hard and winced.

Amid the darkness, a fortress formed large and intimidating. It appeared like a large factory, and Amy wondered what threats they would meet inside. It wasn't often she infiltrated a Metarex base.

Sonic's grip on Amy's hand loosened before he let go. "Sonic," Amy groaned.

"Cream can't keep up once we get in the base; she'll need help," Sonic explained.

"Okay," Amy whispered. Her heart skipped a beat, and her eyebrows drew together.

Sonic dropped even further back to get a hold on Cream's hand. Amy felt goosebumps rising on her arms. She did not want everyone to split up. She was nervous now, even as they were all together.

A rush of static from someone sighing buzzed through Amy's headset. "It's time," Tails said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

On the screen of Amy's headset, Team Sonic's entrance blinked blue. Amy dropped back slightly to run with Sonic and Cream. Her hammer slipped into her fingers. "Let's do this," Sonic murmured in what seemed to be meant as words of encouragement. However, his voice barely came and it shook when he spoke.

Team Sonic circled to the side of the building. An old rusted door, closed by a shining silver chain, stood behind overgrown bushes covered in bright violet flowers. "Those are the biggest flowers I've ever seen," Cream said.

Sonic shook his head, scowling at the flowers. "Something's not right about them. Their color makes me remember…." Sonic's voice trailed away, and Amy saw his eyes closed tight and forehead creased.

"You don't have to remember," she said quickly. _It's a Metarex memory._ She turned back to the flowers. "Scan," she muttered, and her headset began running a test.

A window popped up within seconds, and Amy struggled to ready the small type on her visor. "They…secrete a poison or something…but it's only released if the bush gets broken." Amy swallowed hard. "We're going to need another way in," she muttered, her voice shaking.

"Hurry up, Sonic," Nova snapped, reminding Amy that they could be heard by all the others.

"We need another way in," Sonic muttered. "Tails, any ideas?"

"Come in the same entrance as us; just get back to your position," Tails said, his voice clearly shaking.

Sonic grabbed Cream's hand, nodded to Amy, and sped toward Team Red's entrance. Amy wasn't far behind.

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

Cosmo's fingers were entangled in Tails's grip, a constant reminder making his face tight and his breaths sharp. He kept his eyes on the screen directly in front of his line of vision. His feet moved beneath him but he trusted Cosmo to lead the way through the hallways of the Metarex base as he directed her. He tried to ignore the way the sound of their footsteps echoed off the walls and back at them. Only when his lungs screamed for air did he realize he was holding his breath.

And then, a tremor ran through him. He stopped short, the force strong enough that it dragged Cosmo to a halt. Knuckles ran a few steps beyond them before he noticed they had stopped. "What's wrong?" Cosmo whispered.

Tails sucked in a sharp breath to hold again. And then, a heartbeat later, a glowing golden blip sparked to life on the map. He stared at it a long moment, his eyes not comprehending it, his brain not believing it. But the tremor still shaking beneath his skin worked to convince him otherwise. "No way," Tails whispered.

"What's wrong, Tails?" Knuckles asked, his voice a little lower than Cosmo's, a little more impatient, no less panicked.

"That—there has to be a Chaos Emerald here!" Tails exclaimed. The confusion, the joy, the conflicting emotions overwhelmed the space in his lungs for air, leaving him breathless. He sucked in another breath before he could ask, "Sonic…can you feel that?"

"Yup, I feel it," Sonic murmured.

"Nova? Shadow?"

"Should…I?" Nova asked slowly.

"I feel it," Shadow said without hesitation.

Tails gritted his teeth. A Chaos Emerald. The Metarex had a Chaos Emerald, just like that? How had they gotten such a head start from Tails and his friends even realized the Metarex were back? Tightness built up in Tails's chest. "What do we do now? This wasn't part of the plan."

"You guys go after it," Sonic suggested. "The rest of us will take care of business."

Tails hesitated a heartbeat. He hated changing plans at the last minute. The need to adapt often foreshadowed disaster, according to their prior experiences. "Are you sure?"

"It's not like we can leave it with the Metarex."

Tails heard his heart beating in his ears. He tightened his grip on Cosmo's hand. She squeezed his hand back before offering her suggestion for a new route to the gold blip on their map. Knuckles said nothing but adjusted according to Cosmo's plan.

Because…

…how could the Metarex be this far ahead?

…how could the Metrex have a base and a Chaos Emerald and _Rouge_ and none of them had noticed?

At least not until the Metarex _baited them._

-X-X-X-

_Nova's View_

Magic flew from her fingertips as Nova took Metarex out of commission one after another. Beside her, Shadow used a combination of hand-to-hand combat and Chaos Spear to knock out the Metarex. Behind her, she could dimly hear Chris yelling out instructions. "How much farther?" Nova gasped.

"Two floors," Chris replied.

Nova suppressed a groan. This was a lot of work to save someone she didn't even know. In fact, she just hoped Shadow or Chris would recognized this "Rouge."

"Nova! Your right!" Chris cried.

Nova flung herself left as a Metarex burst from the adjoining hallway. She overloaded its circuits with her magic and it collapsed to the ground. "Thanks," she muttered.

Now one floor up from ground level, Metarex flooded to meet them. However, here was yet to be an alarm wailing. As if the Metarex coming at them now were just a preliminary precaution, not the actual army.

Shadow leaped in front of Nova and dismantled the Metarex heading toward her. She said nothing to him however, knowing she would repay that later after Shadow saved her life fifteen more times.

There was a break in the onslaught and Team Shadow pressed on. By the time they traveled down two hallways, the wall of Metarex returned.

-X-X-X-

_Amy's View_

Every time they found a hall with a Metarex, Sonic had Cream find an alternate route. They were so far away from the original plan now, but Amy wasn't surprised. Sonic was never one to follow rules. However, he usually broke rules for the thrill, not for the sake of safety.

Amy knew it was only a matter of time before they would have to battle the Metarex.

Sonic's hand held Cream's, but only because it made the most sense. She was the slowest and youngest of Team Sonic. Still, though, Amy wished her fingers could be intertwined with Sonic's. That Sonic would keep her standing, keep her moving.

"Turn right, Sonic," Cream said quietly. "But there are Metarex."

Amy wondered if Sonic would turn them around again, but there was no other way to take. They had to fight a Metarex eventually. "Amy," Sonic said, "get your hammer ready."

Eventually was now.

Amy gripped the handle of her hammer tightly in her hand. Her arm shook. The last thing she wanted to do was see the Metarex again. And by Sonic's gritted teeth and wide eyes, Amy guessed he felt the same.

"Cream, stay here," Sonic whispered. "Amy—" Sonic reached out and took Amy's hand, and the breath caught in her throat. "Now," he said.

Amy followed Sonic around the corner and almost froze. There had to be forty Metarex standing there. Amy tightened the grip on her hammer before jumping into action. She slammed her hammer into a Metarex torso, sending it flying into another. A Metarex grabbed her arm and with a start, she swung her hammer at its head. They approached her from all directions, and Amy swung wildly, just hoping to connect with something metallic.

Air was hard to come by and she felt her heart beating in her head. Why were there so many Metarex in one place?

And then she felt rough metallic fingers wrap around her right leg.

Amy spun around, but the Metarex grip was strong on her leg. It tightened its grip as she spun. She heard it crack. Pain shot up her leg and tears sprung into her eyes.

And she screamed.


	9. First Casualties

**Chapter Nine: First Casualties**

_Everything is loud until I hear Amy scream. And then, all is silent. All I hear is the echoing of her scream inside my skull. The world shifts to slow motion. Thoughts halt in my head. My lungs stop breathing._

A sea of Metarex blocked Amy from view. At the sound of her scream, Sonic spun to the right and saw nothing but Metarex All metal limbs, climbing over one another as they reached for him.

He needed the Ring.

He needed a Chaos Emerald.

_Amy._

He needed to scream.

"Who just screamed?" Sonic distantly heard Nova say. Even though her voice was right in his ear, it sounded like she was underwater. He was underwater? Drowning. Someone was drowning.

Tails said, "It's not us."

"Team Chaotix is fine," Vector reported.

A heartbeat. Silence. A roaring in Sonic's head. He threw himself at the Metarex without a plan.

"Sonic?" Tails whispered.

Tail's voice. So small. Shaking. Sonic should reply. But the sensible thought of who he was got shoved to the back of his head, consumed by the much louder thought. He pulled himself into a spindash and thrust out at the Metarex. His spines ground against their metal limbs. It tore open his skin but the sting was so far away.

"Sonic?" Nova repeated.

Sonic uncurled from the ball and landed firm on the ground, one knee to the floor, fist bracing his lunge as he pulled his head up to the scene in front of him. And between the writhing of metal limbs before him, he saw a glimpse of pink.

"I can't…see what's going on…I don't know…." Cream said haltingly.

Sonic shoved himself up from the ground and into the wall of Metarex before him, tearing through them like they were made of aluminum foil rather than metal. Until, finally, as though after hours, after months, after _years_, he broke through their barricade, stumbling to a halt just beyond them.

Amy was there. On the ground. Her head shoved into the floor. Her back arcing up in tense agony. Her eyes squeezed shut, her teeth grinding themselves into gravel.

Her left leg twisted away from her body at a disturbing angle.

"Amy!" He dropped to her side. His hands hovered above her for a heartbeat, scared to touch her and only make the pain worse.

Amy opened her eyes a slit. "My leg…I think…it's broken."

If her leg wasn't broken, then the twisted leg attached to her body wasn't hers.

"Sonic!" Nova yelled. "Report!"

"Amy's leg is broken," he snapped.

Sonic slid his arms beneath Amy. When his arm brushed against her leg, her entire body twisted away from him, her jaw tightening, like that was the only thing keeping a scream inside her throat. Sonic winced at the sight. But he didn't have another plan so he kept going, pulling Amy off the ground and into his arms as he straightened.

Only to find the solid wall of Metarex surrounding them.

A sea, so many metal bodies deep.

Sonic gritted his teeth and glared around. Searched for a gap. Found none. His eyes dropped to Amy's face, then back up again. He couldn't drop Amy, leave her here as bait. But there was no means of getting through them otherwise. His options were a series of doors slamming closed around him. "Cream, you need to get out of here," he growled.

"What's going on?" Tails cried.

"Everyone, get out. Amy and I are trapped."

Suddenly a bright red light flashed on in the corridor and a siren erupted in a high wail. Sonic's heart missed a beat in panic. His eyes stung with tears he struggled to dismiss. "You need to go."

Amy stared up at Sonic. Her look was enough to draw Sonic's eyes to her. They didn't shimmer like his. Not until they met hers. At which point, she whispered, "We're going to die, aren't we?"

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

Tails glanced at Cosmo to discover her eyes as wide as his own. "What do we do now?" Cosmo asked softly.

Tails's heart sank. He was going to lose his best friend today. All he felt like doing was sinking to the floor, putting his head against his knees, and crying until the problem was solved by someone else. But he just couldn't afford to do that right now. "Cream, are you okay?" he asked nervously.

"Yes," Cream replied. "The path to Team Chaotix doesn't have any Metarex so I'm going to join them."

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. Chris said, "We're closest to Team Sonic."

"No," Sonic growled. "You guys have to get out now or it'll be too late."

"We're not just going to leave you!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"I'll gamble my life, not yours."

"Then what about Amy's?" Nova said.

Sonic's silence was answer enough.

Tails took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself. He had to think clearly. "We have three things to do and three teams. Chaotix, you guys get Rouge once Cream gets to you. Our team will continue to go get the Chaos Emerald. Team Shadow, you go save Sonic and Amy."

"Tails—" Sonic began.

"You have to trust me!" Tails pleaded.

Sonic was silent for a moment. "Will do," he said after a rapid series of punches at Tails's chest, courtesy of his panicked heart.

Tails forced his mind to continue with its logic. "Okay. The Metarex are probably going to take your headsets. Reach up at the earpiece and a small piece should break off."

There was some muttering as Sonic had Amy break off the small part from his earpiece. "Tails, is this…?"

Tails smiled despite himself. "Yeah. I figured out the technology behind the chip you made during the Changed War and recreated it. It works like yours did when you guided me when I went and became Super Tails. Thought to thought. Just put it on your head. Anyone else will need to do the same to communicate with you. But it'll only work in short bursts," Tails explained.

"So just on our head?" Nova said.

"Yeah, because—"

"Spare us the geek speak," Knuckles said. "So we'll all be in each other's thoughts?"

"Only when a message is purposely being sent," Tails said as he placed the small device on his own head.

Knuckles was still sprinting down the hallways, and Tails was on his heels with Cosmo's hand in his. "We're not far now," Cosmo reported.

"Then we can go help Sonic," Tails said.

They ran a little farther before Cosmo cried, "It's this door!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Knuckles smashed through the metal door. In the middle of the room, a Chaos Emerald was within a glass tank. At least one hundred tubes branched off from that tank to other tanks holding identical Chaos Emeralds. And then there were the twenty Metarex guards. Knuckles said, "This might take a little longer than we thought."

-X-X-X-

_Nova's View_

Nova glided just above the ground as she followed Shadow down the new route; Chris wasn't far behind. Her eyes narrowed, her face set in a glare. She wasn't sure if she was madder at the Metarex or at Sonic. The Metarex for capturing Sonic or Sonic for getting captured. "Metarex ahead!" Chris warned.

Nova pulled back her arm and began charging. A violet, translucent light pulsed in her grip. She let out a deep breath, and when her eyes caught sight of metal, she let the energy fly. Shadow let off Chaos Spear, and the three Metarex rounding the corner were reduced to a pile of scrap metal. Nova gritted her teeth, gliding just above the pile. The wind blew her hair back, away from her face. The edge of an adrenaline rush was trying to shove its way into her consciousness. She quickly shoved it away; the last thing she needed was recklessness. "Two hallways left," Chris reported.

As they entered the final hallway, they discovered a line of Metarex heading in the direction of Sonic and Amy. "Blast, back back BACK!" Nova shouted.

Shadow spun around and dashed behind Nova as she landed. Green and yellow sparks danced around her fingertips. Nova screamed, throwing her hand out in front of her. The sparks erupted from her hand as bolts of light, striking through the line of Metarex as if they weren't even there. They stood for only a moment longer before falling to the ground, a mess of sparking wires and lackluster metal. Nova took a deep breath, shaking the dizziness from her head. Shadow grabbed her hand and dragged her down the rest of the hallway as Nova struggled to catch her breath.

But suddenly, Shadow halted and held up his arm in front of Nova as Chris stumbled to a stop behind them.

Because directly in front of them stood a large Metarex, just inside the room where Sonic and Amy were trapped surrounded by an army of Metarex. The large Metarex could only be a Metarex General, and it stared directly at Team Shadow. "I see we have a security breach," he said smugly.

Nova glanced at Chris, and they shared a look of wide-eyed horror before turning back to look at the Metarex. "You don't happen to be here with one Sonic the Hedgehog, do you?" the Metarex said.

Nova stood up taller. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest, but she had a responsibility. "This conflict is between the planets Greengate and Majyk. It's law that you leave Mobius," she declared.

The Metarex cocked its head to the side and chuckled. "This war is much bigger than that, I'm afraid, Princess Nova. By the way, how are your wings healing? It's quite rare for a fairy to recover from that kind of damage."

Nova stumbled back a step as if she had been pushed, and her breath caught in her throat. Weakly, she said, "How do you…?"

"My name is Rusted Maple," the Metarex said, "and I am the leader of the Metarex.

It was silent in the room, none of the heroes daring to say a word. However, Sonic sent a thought: _They have Amy_.

Nova felt ice creeping over her, starting at the front of her skull. The Metarex leader had Amy. And Sonic was too scared to fight back.

As if Rusted Maple had heard the thought that Sonic had sent, he threw a limp pink form to the ground in front of them. Nova clapped a hand over her mouth, and Rusted Maple laughed.

Was Amy…dead?

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

"Knuckles! Grab a hold!" Tails shouted.

Tails spun his tails like a propeller and lifted off the ground. Knuckles took Tails's hands and was pulled up with Tails. In midair, Tails spun Knuckles around, gathering speed. "Now!" Knuckles yelled.

Tails released his grip, and Knuckles went flying with the speed he had gathered in midair. He pummeled through the Metarex with great force, knocking down eight in a row in seconds. He landed on the ground and began throwing punches in every direction. Tails stayed in the air, flying in dizzying circles as the Metarex struggled to catch him. He just needed to keep them distracted long enough for Knuckles to get them—and to keep them away from Cosmo.

Quickly, Knuckles knocked out twelve of the twenty Metarex. Tails landed in front of Cosmo, thankful that she had been untouched by the Metarex. The Metarex were all distracted by Knuckles so Tails dashed to the capsule holding the real Chaos Emerald. A computer screen stood in front of it flooded with the Metarex language. Cosmo followed Tails over. Tails's eye's scanned over the text, but in his panic, he was having trouble translating. "Cosmo?" he asked desperately.

Cosmo took a step closer to the screen. "It…seems like…the Metarex are producing exact replicas of the Chaos Emerald."

Tails felt his heart stutter, and he glanced around the room. Exact? Tails turned back as Cosmo pressed a button. "This should pause the process, according to the computer," she explained.

A small glass door opened, allowing Tails access to the Emerald. As he pulled it out, a sudden thought shot through Tails's brain from Sonic: _They have Amy_.

Tails looked at Cosmo. She had her hand clapped over her mouth, and her eyes wide in horror. Knuckles, who had just finished destroying the last Metarex, dashed over. "Did anyone else hear that?" he asked.

"That was Sonic," Tails said softly. "We have to get there."

Cosmo said, "Use the Chaos Emerald."

Tails blinked. "I'm not strong enough. I can't do it with just one."

"Well we have to get to someone who can!" Knuckles shouted.

"Sonic's on the other side of the base," Cosmo said.

Tails's heart beat hard in his chest. Tails took a deep breath. "I have to try."

Knuckles grabbed his arm. "We don't have time for an experiment. We need to run."

Tails nodded and took Cosmo's hand. "Right," he said after a moment. Knuckles dashed out of the room with Tails and Cosmo close behind. Tails carried the Chaos Emerald in his other hand. _Please let this Chaos Emerald be enough. Please let us get there in time, _Tails prayed. _Please, PLEASE let this be enough._

-X-X-X-

_Nova's View_

Seeing Amy on the ground froze Nova. Everything felt cold and hot at the same time. Her heart pounded in her chest and in her head.

And then Amy's eyes opened just a slit.

A new breath of air filled Nova's lungs. Time to try out this thought communicator herself. _Amy, are you okay?_ Nova winced. Sending the thought stung her skull.

_Yeah_, Amy thought. _You need to do something. Sonic can't move because the Metarex said they'll kill me if he does._

Nova gritted her teeth. She had no idea what to do, too scared to move. What could she do with Rusted Maple standing right in front of her? But she had to do _something_ or they would all be taken prisoner or worse.

She slipped her hand subtly behind her back so Rusted Maple would not notice the small gesture. _Sonic_, she thought, wincing, _the moment you see a blinding white light, attack. Shadow, you get Amy_.

Nova took several deep breaths. This was going to take a lot of magic. She just hoped that the Metarex would take these rapid breaths as panic. Beside her, Shadow stayed still, not even glancing at Amy. Behind her, she could hear Chris taking rapid breaths as well. No one appeared like they had any semblance of a plan. Nova just hoped it would work. All they needed was a moment, one moment to grab Amy. If they had Amy, Sonic would be okay. If Sonic could fight, he'd be okay. "GO!" Nova screamed as loud as she could.

She threw out her hand, and from its palm erupted a blinding white light. Nova took quick, unsteady breaths, trying to keep it going as long as possible. Then Shadow's voice was in her ear. "Nova, I have her."

Nova slowly lowered the light so she could stop it. But suddenly, a metallic hand struck her, cutting the light off abruptly as Nova's shoulder slammed into a wall somewhere to her right. "Nova!" Shadow shouted.

Nova groaned, struggling to her feet. Separated from Shadow, she was surrounded on all sides by lesser Metarex. She had no energy left after shining that light. No magic meant no attack. No attack meant no way out. No way out meant a hostage situation. "Oh no," Nova breathed.

-X-X-X-

_Amy's View_

Shadow quickly shoved Amy into Chris's arms. "Hold her," he snapped. Then he leapt into a wall of Metarex standing between him and Nova.

Chris sat on the ground, putting Amy's head on his lap. Everything felt sore except for her left leg which pain shot up and down at every moment. She could feel tears running down her face but had no sensation of crying.

Where was Sonic? Was he okay? She was made she wasn't still with him, mad that the Metarex had taken her away from him. They needed to be together. Just in case Sonic died.

"Are you okay?" Chris was saying.

"Sonic," Amy cried.

"Amy," Chris repeated, "are you okay?"

Once again, Amy refused to answer his question. "Where's Sonic?"

She needed Sonic. Nothing would be okay until she had Sonic. She didn't have the energy to try to communicate with him via her thoughts; she hurt too much.

She needed her headset, but it was a mangled mess. Tails was wrong; the Metarex hadn't taken it. It had just fallen off and been crushed. Sonic still had his. She needed him. "Sonic!" she screamed.

Chris tore off his headset and held it so Amy could use it. It was designed specifically for Chris so it wouldn't fit, but with Chris holding it, she could use it. "Sonic!" Amy cried.

"I'm here," he gasped. He must be fighting.

"I'm okay; I'm safe," she said. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," Sonic grunted. "As long as you're safe."

Suddenly Chris said, "Where's Rusted Maple?"

Amy struggled to open her eyes wider, and sure enough, Rusted Maple was gone. "Sonic, Rusted Maple's not here! Watch out!"

"He's not here either," Sonic said.

Amy struggled to gather a deep breath as a weight settled on her chest. Where could he have gone?

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

Only three hallways separated Team Red from the massive battle going on to save Sonic and Amy. And those three hallways were three hallways too many. Anything could happen in the time that it took them to get there.

Two hallways left. Tails's hand gripped Cosmo's tightly. At the same time, two hallways were about a million too few. He didn't want to die; he didn't want to lose Cosmo.

One hallway.

At the end of it, Chris was on the ground, Amy in his lap as he held up his headset for her to use. "Chris, what's going on?" Knuckles shouted over the sound of scraping metal.

"Sonic and Shadow are fighting the Metarex," Chris explained, "but I think Nova's in danger."

"About time I offer some help," Knuckles said before diving into the battle.

Tails held out the Chaos Emerald. "I have to get this to Sonic."

"Can't you use it?" Chris asked.

Tails shook his head. "I don't know, and now's not really the time to find out."

Tails spun his tails and lifted off the ground. He hoped he could stay out of the reach of the Metarex this way. Gliding over the battle, Tails searched for Sonic. And then, there he was, in the middle of the mass of Metarex. "Sonic!" Tails shouted.

Sonic glanced up, and Tails pelted the Chaos Emerald his way. Sonic caught it easily. "Thanks, buddy!" he called as it grew brighter in his hand.

Sonic spun in a ball and rocketed through the Metarex in every direction. Shadow fought through Metarex to reach Nova, who had slid to the ground in terror of the Metarex getting closer. Tails sped over. He rammed a particularly close Metarex to the ground and offered his hand to Nova. She took it, and Tails pulled her up. "Your wings okay?" Tails asked.

Nova nodded breathlessly. "I can't use them even though they're not hurt. I used too much magic."

Tails landed over by Chris. The moment Nova stood on her feet, she slid to the ground, struggling to get enough air in her lungs. Metarex limbs and assorted pieces of metal were being thrown about the room. Distantly, Tails heard Cream say, "Rouge has been retrieved. We're on our way out."

Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles dashed out of the room where few Metarex still stood. Sonic took Amy in his arms before speeding off. Shadow did the same with Nova. Knuckles ran after them, and when Chris stumbled to his feet, so did he. Tails took Cosmo's hand tightly in his own and pulled her along.


	10. Change of Plans

**Chapter Ten: Change of Plans**

_Nov. 10, 2009_

_Dear Diary:_

_My leg hurts! I have never broken a bone in my life before, and my leg is __badly__ broken. I hate the Metarex._

_At least we all got out alive, even if just barely. And we did what we needed to do. We got Rouge out, plus we got a Chaos Emerald. But now we have no plan. The Metarex are already on Mobius. They have the upper hand. We had these nightmares, like they were just playing with us and_

_Wait…_

_No! We're not having nightmares!_

_Nova was too drained last night to use magic, and I was in too much pain to stay awake. But I didn't have a nightmare. Why did they stop?_

_Is this a new game?_

_Love,_

_Amy Rose_

Amy dropped her notebook on the nightstand beside her and leaned back into her pillows, pressing her hands to her face. Already she wanted to drop back into the semi-peace unconsciousness brought. No dizzying thoughts, no trying to decipher Metarex plans.

And no excruciating pain shooting down her leg, taking up all the space in her brain she had to process thought to process the pain instead.

A knock brushed against her bedroom door a moment before it opened. Sonic stood there, and when he saw Amy already looking back at him, he smiled. "Hey, you feeling okay?"

Amy scowled. "That's kind of a stupid question. The Metarex are back and now I'm no use in a fight against them."

Sonic's smile faltered for a split second. The corners of his lips tilted downward before he caught them and wrenched them back up again. He leaned his shoulder back against the door. "Don't even worry about that yet."

But she locked her arms against her chest. The gesture made her feel more like a petulant child than anything else, but with her mind consumed in pain, she couldn't think of a more sophisticated response. "I hate them," she muttered. "I hate that they're back. I hate that they keep stealing time away from our lives. And I hate not being able to do anything to stop them already."

Sonic chuckled. "It's not bad to take a break, Amy."

"But we've barely even started!"

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

Tails sat on Cream's living room floor rebuilding a headset for Amy since it seemed hers had been destroyed in the midst of the attack at the Metarex base. Not far away on the couch, Knuckles was already bickering with Rouge. They twisted toward each other so that each of them had one shoulder pressed against the back of the couch. While Knuckles was glaring at her, looking almost literally like steam would begin rising from his skin at any moment, Rouge leaned back with comfortable ease. "I didn't need to be rescued," Rouge claimed. She brushed at her glove as if to clear off a speck of lint. Whether real or imaginary. Tails only half-watched the exchange out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh really?" Knuckles snapped back doubtfully. "Vector said that they found you curled up in a corner."

"So you _were _worried about me, huh, Knuckie?"

Tails was distracted enough by the odd exchange between Knuckles and Rouge that he didn't notice Cosmo had entered the room until he saw her lowering herself to the floor beside him. "Is that a new headset?" she asked.

Tails's expression warmed at the sound of her voice. It only took a moment for the warmth in his face to spread through the rest of his body. "Yeah; Amy's was destroyed at the Metarex base."

"You're really quick!" she said. "It looks almost done."

Tails nodded, blushing. "It's no big deal."

"Well, it's about time we got going."

Tails's head jerked up at the sound of Vector's voice. He had just entered the room and stood in the doorway that separated the kitchen and living room. There he stood, fists planted firmly on his hips like he was posing for a portrait.

"Already?" Chris said from his spot in one of the room's chairs.

Vector nodded. "Yup. You know how it is. We probably have a bunch of new cases to solve."

"Yeah, and we don't wanna have to deal with any more Metarex!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Shut up, Charmy!" Vector shouted.

As the door closed behind the Chaotix, Knuckles muttered sarcastically, "Sure, we'll call you."

But then Rouge pushed herself to her feet as well, and Knuckles attention snapped to her in an instant. "I better be going as well. I'm not getting caught when the Metarex come calling."

"That's one way to show gratitude," Knuckles muttered.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Whatever. See you later, Knuckie!"

With that, Rouge walked out the front door. "It'll probably be a lot quieter now," Chris pointed out.

"No kidding," Knuckles agreed.

Nova walked silently in the room, almost timidly. Her hair had its slight curl back, and a single clip held back her hair on the right side of her face. She wore a short sleeved solid blue dress and silver flats. Altogether, it was a strangely tame look for the normally vibrant fairy. "Where's Amy?" she asked.

"At home," Cosmo replied.

"Um…and where is that?" she asked.

Tails stood up. "It's down the road to the right. I can take you there."

Nova shook her head. "That's okay; I'll find it."

Nova walked out the front door, and Tails slowly sat back down. "That was odd," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, Nova seemed different," Chris said. "Maybe the whole encounter with the Metarex messed with her more than we realized."

-X-X-X-

_Sonic's View_

Sonic stumbled around Amy's kitchen, trying to make her muffins. He already had the recipe out, but he was still searching for the ingredients. "What is baking soda?" Sonic muttered. He looked through the bottles in Amy's fridge and came up with nothing.

There was a knock on the door. Sonic dashed over to pull it open but once he had, he stumbled back a step, startled by who stood there. Nova's eyes widened in turn. "Oh…hey, Sonic."

"What's up?" he said, leaning on the doorframe.

"Amy's here, right?" she asked.

"It's her house," he said with a grin.

"Can I see her?"

Sonic shrugged, stepping aside so Nova could slide in past him. He closed the door behind her before turning toward the stairs to lead her to Amy's room. "Should I even ask why?"

"I might be able to help her with her leg," Nova said. "Now that my magic's replenished from yesterday. I've learned a few things from the medics on my planet beyond just dreamless sleep."

Sonic scowled, but because he was turned away from her, he doubted Nova saw the expression. But as much as Nova's magic made Sonic's stomach twist with discomfort, his life wasn't Amy's. His choice wasn't hers. And he wasn't about to try to decide for her.

That was a good way to get beaten with a hammer.

At least that thought was enough to return a smirk to Sonic's face before he pushed open the door to Amy's bedroom, so at least he didn't greet her with a grimace. "You have company," he announced as Nova followed him in.

He willed Nova not to wince at the sight of Amy, and thankfully, Nova didn't more than blink. Her expression remained impassive. In addition to her broken leg, Amy was coated in bruises from being tossed about by the Metarex. So far, he'd avoided allowing her to see her reflection in a mirror. But that wasn't likely to last forever.

"How are you feeling?" Nova asked, walking over to stand next to Amy's bed. She looked down at Amy's bed, like she was looking for a place to sit but was too afraid to risk hurting Amy any worse.

"Like I played the part of punching bag for a bunch of Metarex," Amy snapped. She shifted her gaze to her leg, elevated on the pillow. Sonic winced, even though Amy didn't. "And then someone snapped my leg in half."

Nova nodded. A ghost of a smile hovered over her lips. "I've been there. That's a fair assessment. But because of that, I think I can help you."

Amy frowned at Nova. "What does that even mean?"

"The medical magic of fairies does more than just enable dreamless sleep," Nova explained. "And since I practically stalked the medics as a kid, they trained me in the magic, at least the basics. Which just so happened to include broken bones. I can give it a shot, if you want to try."

Amy glanced at Sonic standing at the end of her bed, but Sonic just offered her a shrug.

Amy turned her gaze back to Nova. "Yeah, of course. I'll try anything."

Nova shifted her eyes to Sonic and gestured him over with a jerk of her head. "This might hurt, so you should probably be with her."

Sonic glanced warily between them before walking over to the other side of Amy's bed. Nova gingerly trailed her fingers along Amy's broken leg. "Just tell me if it hurts, all right?"

Amy nodded slowly, and Sonic took her hand. Nova closed her eyes. A purple glitter fluttered around her hands. The glitter surrounded Amy's leg, and Nova's hands began to glow with the same purple color. Amy's grip on Sonic's hand tightened. He watched her face carefully. Her teeth were gritted, but her eyes were still open. But the glow only lasted a moment before it faded, and the glitter evaporated soon after.

Nova withdrew her hands, curling her fingers into fists. She took in a shuddering breath. "Are you okay?"

Amy released Sonic's hand to push herself up in bed. She blinked a couple times at her leg. She drew it toward her body before straightening it out once more. "Yeah…my leg isn't hurting at all now."

Nova smiled. "It'll still take about three days to finish healing, so you should stay off it until then. But then it should be fine."

But then Amy's eyes drooped. She slid lower in bed. Sonic's eyes snapped to Nova in an instant, but Sonic saw no concern in the fairy's face. She said, "The tiredness is normal. The magic should knock you out for a couple hours, but that's it."

Amy slipped down so her head rested on her pillow, and she slowly closed her eyes. Nova let out another deep breath. Though Amy was unconscious, Sonic reached out and took her hand in his once more. In her sleep, the tension evaporated from her face. _Good,_ Sonic thought. _She deserves a break, after the night she had._ "Thanks, Nova."

When Sonic lifted his eyes to Nova, he saw her raising an eyebrow. "A thank you?"

Sonic smirked. "She was worried that she wouldn't be able to fight. Three days is better than six weeks."

What he didn't tell her was how much of himself he saw in Amy. How much he wished no one to carry as much weight as he did.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Sonic's and Nova's heads snapped to the door at the sound of the new voice. A human girl no older than eight stood in the doorway, her pale red hair in a low ponytail hanging over her shoulder. But she held herself differently than a girl that age should. She stood taller. Her eyes weren't wide but analyzing.

C2.

The Time Whisperer.

A guardian of the timeline.

At their expressions—which Sonic couldn't so much as guess at; his face had gone completely numb—the corner of her mouth quirked upward. "Can I ask a favor?"


	11. With the Throw of a Wrench

**Chapter Eleven: With the Throw of a Wrench**

_C2? So Sonic has met this girl as well? I try to remember who she said she was when I met her…_

_Her real name is Cosmo, I think, and she calls herself C2 for…some reason. She's a Time Whisperer, right? She does something or other with the flow of time. She's the one who explained to me about the time change when I returned back to 2006. Perhaps I wasn't the only one who received a visit from her._

_But if C2 has arrived now…then I can only guess something must be wrong with time._

C2 smiled. "Hello, Sonic. And hello to you, Princess."

Nova blinked. Certainly, if this was her home planet of Majyk, the formality would be familiar. But with Sonic in the room? She half-expected the use of her title to be used mockingly.

"You about to take us on another time warp?" Sonic smirked. "Or do we need you to get us into space and save our lives again?"

Nova, again, could only blink. Was she being punked?

But C2 shook her head. "It's not that simple this time."

Nova scoffed. "Are we calling 'time travel' simple and straight forward now? Funny enough, I was still in the 'defying time and space' camp."

Rather than comment on Nova's derision, C2 glanced out the window. Her body claimed her youth but her faraway eyes claimed some unattainable age's knowledge. The sight of such things sent shivers down Nova's arms so that her wings instinctively twitched behind her.

"I helped a girl from the future travel back in time," C2 explained. She slowly turned her eyes away from the window to look at Sonic and Nova once again. "She'll be here any moment. She has something she needs to do in this time, and I was hoping you could help."

"That's awful timing," Nova said. She locked her arms against her chest and sent a narrow-eyed glance at Sonic out of the corner of her eye. "Which is pretty ironic for a being who's supposed to be above time. Did you not check the feeds to figure out we're in the start of yet another war with the Metarex?"

But when Sonic caught sight of Nova's side-eye, he just rolled his own eyes before offering a far more reassuring smile to C2. "We'll figure out how to make it work; we always do. But how can we help?"

C2's shoulders fell a fraction. It was only then that Nova realized that before she'd been holding them stiff. "She'll explain."

"Seriously, we don't have time for this!" Nova glared at Sonic. "We have a war about to start that we need to deal with."

Sonic shrugged. "Maybe she can help us fight."

"She can," C2 said.

Sonic pointed to C2 and shrugged. His eyebrows were raised, and he had a smug grin on his face. "Fine," Nova growled.

A bright light flashed outside of Amy's bedroom window briefly, then faded. "That will be her."

Sonic followed C2 down the stairs and out the front door. But for a moment, Nova just stood at Amy's unconscious side. Her fingers balled into fists. They didn't have time to deal with this ethereal being's agenda. Especially one the Time Whisperer held close to her chest. Not when the Metarex were back. Not when they were already hurt.

How could Sonic not realize that?

By the time Nova urged herself outside after Sonic and C2, Sonic already knelt in the grass a few yards away from Amy's home next to an unconscious girl. Nova drifted over to his side, observing the girl from over Sonic's shoulder.

The girl's edgily cut blonde hair was streaked with blue the same shade as Sonic's fur. She wore a gray shift dress—almost elegant in its simplicity—and blue canvas sneakers. But then Nova stopped short. Just as a pair of small, pale white wings emerging from the girl's back came into view. "She's a fairy?" Nova whispered to herself.

"Is she okay?" Sonic asked.

C2 nodded. "She'll be fine. It's just the time travel."

Sonic gathered the young girl in his arms and lifted her off the ground. "I'm going to take her to Cream's; that's probably best."

As Sonic walked away, Nova turned to C2. "She's a fairy?" Nova repeated.

C2 nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Nova shook her head. She didn't have the words to explain why that bewildered her. It just…felt so coincidental. So she went with a more practical question instead. "What are we supposed to help her with?"

C2 sighed then walked over so she stood directly in front of Nova. "I'm going to let her explain. This is her mission. Don't get me wrong; I know you're at war. But this is something just as important."

Nova crossed her arms. "I'll decide that for myself."

-X-X-X-

_Tails's View_

There was a pounding at the front door that caused Tails to jump as he was attaching the screen part of Amy's new headset. Cream ran in from the kitchen, calling "I've got it," over her shoulder as she bounced toward the door.

"Hi, Mr. Sonic! Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Sonic said.

Sonic crossed the room in front of Tails. In his arms, he cradled the body of a girl Tails had never seen. He frowned. "Who is that?"

Sonic walked over to the couch. Knuckles pushed himself up off the cushions to give Sonic the room to lay her down. "Don't know yet. C2 sent her."

"That girl again?" Knuckles muttered.

"So C2 sent her from a different time?" Tails said.

Sonic nodded. "The future."

"Why exactly did C2 send her here for us to deal with?" Knuckles asked.

"C2 said she'd explain."

Knuckles scowled. "Can't we get a straight answer once in a while?"

"Is she hurt?" Cosmo asked nervously.

"C2 said it's just that time travel's not easy," Sonic explained.

Sonic headed back toward the door. "Take care of her, okay?" And with that, he was gone. Probably bolting back to Amy's.

Tails turned his attention back to his work on Amy's headset. As screwed the last tiny pieces into place, awareness of time fading into the background, the girl on the couch moaned and rolled over. Tails looked at her, but now she was silent again.

Nova strolled in, shifting the door closed behind her, and leaned on the back of one of the easy chairs in the room. "Anyone seen Shadow?"

Cream said, "He left a few hours ago, but I'm not sure where he went." Nova scowled without explanation in response.

There was a quick intake of breath from the couch and all eyes were on the girl laying there in unconsciousness.

Except, she was now exceptionally conscious.

Her eyes were wide open, and she sat up quickly. She glanced around the room, staring at each person a moment. Then she grinned. "I made it," she said.

"Are you okay?" Cream asked.

"Chao-chao!" Cheese said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the girl said, still smiling. Her eyes were wide as she stared around the room.

Tails decided to try to start introductions. "My name's Miles Prower, but you can call me—"

"Tails," the girl said.

Tails blinked. "Uh…yeah."

The girl shook her head. She squeezed her eyes shut for a heartbeat, before she opened them again. She gestured quickly at his namesakes. "Oh…uh, no. I meant…that you have two of them."

"Oh…" Tails suddenly felt very self-conscious. His tails twitched behind him, like they were trying to take cover behind his back to avoid further judgement.

The girl frowned. Her cheeks flushed red. "Sorry. I didn't mean anything."

Tails sighed then smiled. "I know. It's okay."

Nova asked, "What's your name?"

The girl's eyes widened when Nova spoke. Then her wide smile returned. "Angel; my name's Angel."

"I'm Princess Nova of Majyk," Nova said.

Angel nodded eagerly. Cosmo, Cream, Chris, and Knuckles introduced themselves as well. Then Cream jumped to her feet. "I should tell Sonic you're awake."

As Cream ran out of the house, Angel looked around. "Who's Sonic?" she asked.

Nova rolled her eyes. "You'll meet him soon enough."

-X-X-X-

_Sonic's View_

Sonic was back in Amy's kitchen, trying to finish the muffins before Amy woke up. He mixed together the dry ingredients, feeling quite proud of himself. There was a knock at the door, and Sonic put down the spoon. He frowned down the hallway. Seriously, how did Amy and Cream accomplish anything in the kitchen if they were always being interrupted?

Sonic walked over to open the front door and was surprised to see Cream and Cheese there. "Hi, Cream," Sonic said. He made quick work of smothering his frown and urging a quick smirk to take its place. "Did you come to say hi to Amy?"

Cream exclaimed, "The girl woke up! Her name is Angel, and she seems really nice."

"Ch-chao-chao!" Cheese agreed.

"Really?" Sonic glanced in the direction of Cream's house even though it was too far away to see. "I'm there."

He grabbed Cream's hand and sped off toward her house. In seconds, he was at her front door. She giggled happily. "That was fun!"

Sonic grinned at her before walking through the door. "You're Sonic!"

Angel kneeled on the couch, grinning at the hedgehog. "Yeah," Sonic said, walking over to her.

"I'm Angel."

Sonic nodded. "I know; Cream told me."

Angel sat down, tucking her legs under her. "It's great to know you're all so nice. I was kind of nervous coming here."

"Why are you here anyway?" Nova said, crossing her arms.

Angel took a deep breath, and her wide grin faded into a calm smile. "There's something here I need to change."

Vanilla walked in, carrying the phone. "Sonic, Amy is wondering where you are."

Sonic looked at Nova. "I thought you said it would be a couple hours before she woke up."

Nova looked at Sonic, frowning in thought. "Yeah. Because that's how long it's supposed to take. But it never took that long for me either."

Sonic shrugged. "Okay. I should probably go get her then. Be right back."

-(-)-

When Sonic returned to Cream's house carrying Amy, Shadow had arrived, Cream and Cosmo shared a chair, Chris and Tails each had a chair, Nova sat in a chair with Shadow leaning on the back, and Angel sat alone on the couch. Sonic put Amy down on the couch, then sat down between Angel and Amy. Angel stared at Amy. "You must be Amy," Angel said slowly.

Amy said, "Yeah. And you're Angel."

Angel nodded, smiling shyly. "I am."

"So you're from the future?"

"Yes."

"How far in the future are we talking?" Knuckles asked.

"Um…" Angel looked up at the ceiling. She tapped her fingers off with her other hand as she counted silently. "About fifteen years, I think. I'm eleven so…yeah."

"That's not very far," Nova said. "You're born, like, four years from now."

"Hey, maybe we know your parents or something," Tails said.

Angel nodded. "It's not a maybe; I'm sure you know a lot of people I know."

Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Like who?"

Angel turned and grinned at Sonic. "Like you, Sonic. Four years from now, when I'm born, you become a dad. My dad."

Silence met Angel's statement. Sonic's heart beat against his chest. The beating reverberated in his arms, his legs, every inch of his skin. He could hear it louder than anything else in the world. He stared at Angel. He searched her from head to toe, looking for a link—or a lack of a link?—to her. He frowned. And when he finally remembered how to string a sentence together, he said, "You don't even look like me, except for that little bit of blue in your hair. You look more like Nova."

Angel nodded. "I know I look more like Nova. That's because Nova's my mom."

* * *

*mic drop*

This is one of my favorite moments, if I'm being honest. And we're only just beginning! Drop me a review to let me know what you think too!


	12. A Healthy Disrespect of Paradoxes

**Chapter Twelve: A Healthy Disrespect of Paradoxes**

_No._

_No._

_NO._

Amy stared at Sonic. Her heart had been replaced with a chasm. With a black hole and she was diving down. But Sonic didn't look back at her.

Sonic stared at Nova.

Nova opened and closed her mouth silently. Angel pressed her lips together and looked back and forth between them. Her fingers wrapped around each other and twisted in her lap. Until finally she jumped to her feet so she could step back and look at both of them at once. But even then, she hesitated.

And then Nova exploded "How does that happen? How do I marry _him?_"

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Sonic said. Amy heard the attempt at humor in his voice, but at least when she looked at his face, he wasn't laughing.

Nova scowled at him. "So what? I bang my head, lose my memory, and Sonic decides to tell me I'm his girlfriend?"

And that was the last second Amy could hold her tongue.

She shoved herself forward so she could clearly see Nova around Sonic. "Don't kid yourself," she spat. "You think you're such a catch?"

"No, no, no!" Angel said quickly. Amy's eyes snapped to Angel's face, but that just meant Amy turned her glare from Nova to her supposed _daughter. _

Sonic's daughter.

Not Amy's daughter.

Not the daughter she shared with Sonic.

Angel shook her head so fast that her hair whipped around her face, and she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. Only when she saw that all eyes had returned to her face did she still once more. "No, it isn't anything like that. You see, the only reason Sonic and Nova marry is because both Amy and Shadow die."

The ground fell out from under Amy. Even though she was sitting. She was sitting next to Sonic but she was also falling. There was a tear in the universe and she was falling through it. "I'm supposed to die?" she breathed.

She wasn't supposed to get her happy ending. They weren't supposed to love each other as long as they both shall live. Or…she was.

Sonic wasn't.

"How does this happen?" Sonic demanded.

Angel shook her head. "I don't know. You would never tell me."

Shadow gripped Nova's shoulder tightly. Nova ran her fingers through her hair. Both looked tired. But why weren't their worlds collapsing? Was she the only one who could see it happening?

She was falling. She would forever be falling down.

-X-X-X-

_Sonic's View_

"Why are you here, Angel?" Nova asked finally.

Angel twisted her hands in front of her once more, looking down at them rather than meeting the eyes of anyone in the room. "To stop that from happening. You missed Shadow and Amy so much, and I thought that maybe I could stop it. The Time Whisperer C2 helped me get here so I through that maybe it was the right thing to do."

"But then you wouldn't exist!" Tails exclaimed.

Angel sighed. "Yeah, I know." Angel looked up then, a serious passion in her eyes. In that moment, Sonic recognized that fire, as he knew it all too well, recognizing it a reflection of his own. "But that's okay because this is more important."

"Are there still Metarex in the future?" Cosmo asked.

"Unfortunately," Angel replied.

Nova slammed her fist on the arm of the chair. "Is there nothing right in the future?"

"What about Angel?" Sonic suggested. "She didn't do anything wrong by existing."

Angel's eyes fell on Sonic, wide and calculating eyes. But she said nothing. On the other side of him, Sonic heard Amy quietly hyperventilating. He turned to her. She stared ahead at Angel, but her eyes looked further away than that. Sonic took her hand fiercely in his own. "You're going to be okay."

Amy's head twitched as it turned to face Sonic. Her mouth opened and closed silently a few times before she found the words. "Wh…what can I do? I'm going to die. And I'm not going to be with you?"

"You're with me now."

She lifted her eyes so that they finally met his. Tears ran down her face. "Hey," Sonic said softly. He wiped a tear away with him thumb. "Don't cry. It'll be okay."

Amy nodded slowly. Sonic leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. "I'm going to run off for a second, but I'll be right back. I kind of made a mess of your kitchen."

He hoped she didn't see his hands shaking. Though she almost certainly had to be able to see through his pathetic excuse to walk away. Because that was what he needed for a second. To run. To hide.

When Sonic walked out the front door, he didn't immediately throw himself into a run, though. He just walked. His legs shook beneath him and the world felt a little less real. Because how could this possibly be real?

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Sonic spun around to find Angel standing just outside the door. Sonic forced himself to shrug like he was nonchalant about the whole thing. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"I can tell you're upset," Angel said.

"I'm not upset."

"I'm eleven. I'm your daughter. I'm not stupid," Angel said. She locked her arms against her chest. Her lips turned town in a scowl, and it made her look like Amy. The one girl that Angel wasn't related to. The one girl in that room that she truly had no way of knowing. "What do you want me to say, Dad? I came here to save the girl you love. In order to prevent it, you need to know it's going to happen."

"I'm not mad at you," he said with a shrug. Though he didn't know _what _he was feeling.

He turned to bolt away, all plans of walking forgotten in his need to just get away, but he hesitated a moment and turned back to look at Angel over his shoulder. "You don't have to call me 'Dad,' by the way. I'm not your dad yet."

Angel smiled. "Let's keep it that way."

As Sonic turned to run toward Amy's house again, he found he was unable to explain the chill that ran down his spine.

* * *

Well...this is certainly not a short-lived problem, is it? I love putting characters in these situations though; it's the fastest way to find out what they're made of! Feel free to drop me a review and let me know your thoughts. I love hearing from those I write for!


	13. Fireworks

**Chapter Thirteen: Fireworks**

_Nov. 11__th__, 2009_

_Dear journal,_

_The world…our world, our lives I mean, not our planet, it's really messed up right now. A fairy came here from fifteen years in the future, and she's the daughter of Sonic and Nova. She says that Amy and Shadow die in the future, and she wants to prevent it. But that means she'll never exist. It's…I don't know, a lot to wrap your head around. I want to prevent what's supposed to happen to Amy and Shadow. But how can I want that when it condemns this girl I barely know? Even if it just means she'll become a Time Whisperer like C2._

_Angel's a lot like her parents. She looks like Nova, just dresses a little less vibrant. Her hair has blue streaks the color of Sonic's fur, and it's naturally streaked that color, not dyed. She smiles a lot and is really nice. Also, when talking about how she had to do this, she had this determined look that Sonic gets when he gets serious. I sort of wonder what I'm like in Angel's future. If she knows Sonic (which she does since he's her dad), then she might know me too._

_..Miles "Tails" Prower_

Tails put his notebook aside where he sat in a chair in Cream's house. Across from him on the couch was Nova teaching Angel little tricks of magic. Angel stared with wide eyes at her mother. Tails wasn't sure why; maybe it was because it was weird to see her mom as a teenager? It certainly was weird for Tails to see his best friend's daughter in front of his eyes. It was weirder to think of Sonic as someone's _father_.

At that moment, Angel turned enough to send her smile Tails's way. "This is so fun, Uncle Tails!"

Tails blinked. "Uncle?"

Angel blinked in reply, her smile evaporating from her face in an instant. After a heartbeat, she shook her head. "Sorry. Uh…yeah, in the future, you're my godfather so I grew up calling you my uncle."

Tails urged a smile onto his own face, though it took a moment to figure out how to get the corners of his mouth to turn up right. "Oh, okay. That's cool."

Angel shrugged. "This…just feels like normal life to me. Except that you're only a year older than me instead of, like, sixteen years older."

_BOOM._

Tails stiffened, as did Nova and Angel in front of him. "Was that an explosion?" Nova snapped.

"It sounded like a tree falling…" Tails muttered as he pushed himself from his feet and approached the front window, looking for smoke rising in the distance. But he saw nothing out of the ordinary. The world remained still. "Or like a firework? Too far away to know for sure."

Sonic and Knuckles dashed into the living room. "What exactly was that?" Knuckles said.

_BOOM!_

Tails's fingers struck the glass as he braced himself against it. The whole home shook with the force of the explosion this time. And as the sound of the explosion faded, the world seemed far quieter than it had been before.

Sonic gritted his teeth. "It has to be the Metarex. And if they're this close, they might be looking for us specifically."

"What?" Nova cried. She closed her hand, extinguishing the sparkle that glowed there.

"Okay." Unlike Nova, Angel's voice held steady. She spoke as if they were talking about nothing more than what they might be eating for dinner. She climbed to her feet to stand before Sonic and Knuckles. "What do we need to do?"

Everyone turned to stare at Angel. "Aren't you scared?" Tails asked.

"Should I be?"

Knuckles looked at Sonic, raising his eyebrows. "She's definitely your daughter."

Sonic said, "Maybe the Metarex aren't as bad in your time, but they aren't as simple here. So you're not going to fight. Go with Tails and help him get the Blue Typhoon ready."

Angel sighed. "Fine."

Tails snatched his journal off the table and jogged for the hallway, Angel hot on his heels. And once they'd collected Chris, they wasted no time in bursting out the front door with Tails in the lead.

_BOOM!_

The explosion shook the ground and knocked the three of them to their knees. Tails leaned into the fall, bracing his palms on the ground in front of him so he could use that leverage to shove himself back to his feet. "They're practically on top of us!" Chris shouted.

Tails wanted to glance over his shoulder, see just how far off the Metarex really were, but he couldn't waste the time. He needed to maintain his speed. Knowing how far they were from their demise wouldn't help. Getting the Blue Typhoon actually might.

"How far away is the ship, Tails?" Angel asked.

Tails gritted his teeth. _Not close enough_, he thought. "Just keep running!" he cried out loud.

And they did. Even as a minute later, another explosion sent them sprawling across the ground once more. "Wait!" Angel cried as the three of them were dragging themselves to their feet once more. "Don't we need the Master Emerald so the ship can run?"

Tails froze. He shot a look over his shoulder at Chris. And when Chris saw the look on Tails's face, his eyes widened too. "Knuckles went to fight the Metarex, didn't he?"

Tails nodded, swallowing hard. "And we left our headsets at Cream's, so we can't call him."

"I'll go," Angel offered. And without waiting for a reply, without even waiting for the time it took for Tails to turn his gaze from Chris to her, she turned and raced back the way they came.

Tails winced. "Sonic's not going to be happy."

-X-X-X-

_Nova's View_

Nova slipped on her headset as she hurried out of Cream's house. From the grassy lawn, Nova leapt into the air, flickering her wings to keep her rising. Her sleeveless lime green dress fluttered just above her knees. Smoke rose up in the distance. "Zoom," she muttered.

The screen of her headset focused in on the flaming trees. Among the trees stood an enormous Metarex with what seemed to be missiles loaded in his arms. "Is anyone on headset?" Nova asked.

"This is Shadow."

Nova dropped to the ground, her short black boots hitting the ground hard. "There's a Metarex by the burning trees, and it's heavily armed. Get there, and grab Sonic and Knuckles if they aren't already headed that way. I'll meet you."

"Get your ship first."

Nova nodded, although Shadow could not see it. "Good call."

Angel went flying past her in the direction of Cream's house. "Where are you going?' Nova shouted after her.

"I have to contact Knuckles!" Angel replied without stopping.

Nova wanted to ask what Angel was talking about, but Angel was gone before she could. "No time," she told herself.

-(-)-

Nova flipped switches in her ship, listening to the quiet hum as it started up. "Is Knuckles on?" Nova suddenly heard Angel's voice say through her headset.

It was silent over the communicators. Angel sighed, the breath a brush of static against Nova's eardrum. "Guess not."

"He's on his way to fight the Metarex," Nova said, though her attention was fixed on the screens of her craft.

"Okay. I'll go after him."

"No way, Angel," Nova said as her ship rose from the ground. "I'm on my way to him now. What do you need?"

"The Master Emerald."

Nova blinked. "Huh?"

Angel sighed again, sounding a little more frustrated this time. "The Blue Typhoon uses it for power. Knuckles will know what to do."

Nova nodded. "All right." She pushed the controls forward, and her ship blasted away toward the rising smoke. "Who's on headset? Report."

"This is Shadow."

"Angel is."

"Cream is on headset."

No one else replied to Nova's call, and she gritted her teeth. No one was prepared. Their team was all over the place with minimal ability to communicate. "Just great. Shadow, give Sonic grief from me for not wearing his headset."

"Roger."

She glared at the expanse of sky before her. Her heart threw itself at her chest with a consistent rhythm. Minimal communication meant a maximum chance of defeat. Defeat meant death. Nova would be no good to her people dead.

Nova's ship passed over burning trees, and Nova could smell smoke even in the enclosed ship. She cringed. The ship was still fairly far away from the rampaging Metarex. It had apparently already done more damage that she had originally thought.

There was a flash of blue rocketing toward Nova, and Nova jarred the controls of her ship to the right to just barely miss Sonic. It seemed he was already engaging the Metarex—and losing. Nova narrowed her eyes, hyping herself up.

And then the battlefield came into view.

The forest had been cleared, leaving behind the charred ground. In the center stood a monstrosity of a Metarex. It stood taller than any Metarex Nova had ever seen. Wires were left exposed across its armor for whatever reason. _Not too practical_, Nova thought. _It's so easy to cut something required for function._

Suddenly, the wires jolted to life with electricity, and Nova jerked up in shock. This wasn't just some normal grunt of a Metarex. It was a freaking _bomb. _ As Nova circled around after the sudden change in direction, she saw the blur of blue return to the clearing. Not far away, a bolt of red and black also appeared. The cavalry was here. And still, Nova's heart tightened in her chest. Because she knew they weren't here to win. They were only here to buy time.

Nova flipped up three tiny switches and a trio of thin lasers burst from her ship. They skimmed over the Metarex's metallic skin, leaving little more than a faint burn mark. She slammed her fist on the control panel. "You have got to be kidding!" she shouted.

"Nova?" It was Angel's expectant voice that Nova did not bother to dignify with a response. There was no way Nova wanted Angel involved.

"Sonic is not having any more success," Shadow reported. "He has also been informed that he is an idiot for not wearing his headset."

Nova wanted so bad to grin in spite of herself but couldn't bring herself to do so. Just then, Knuckles entered the clearing, falling back a step when he saw that the Metarex was electrified.

For the first time, the Metarex spoke. It began with a quiet entertained laugh. But then the laugh grew to such a volume that Nova struggled to not cover her ears using the hands keeping the aircraft steady. "Quite the entourage, but not the largest I have heard of a Metarex receiving. What, am I not worthy? Or, perhaps, I am so intimidating that few dare to oppose me?"

Nova flexed her fingers while keeping a tight grip on her controls. "He has a lot of nerve," she growled.

Shadow gave a single, quiet laugh. Nova could imagine the slanted smile on his face. The harsh beating of Nova's heart smoothed out just slightly at the image. Shadow said softly and smoothly, "Angel, the moment the Blue Typhoon is ready, you must report it to Nova and me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but I really need Knuckles to get the Master Emerald or we won't be able to get off the ground," Angel explained.

"All right. I will handle that," Shadow said, his voice treading carefully with the jubilant Metarex so close. Nova had no idea how Shadow was going to be able to get the message to Knuckles while keeping the enemy unaware. But Shadow had never failed her before.

"What do you want?" Sonic shouted.

The Metarex turned slowly until he was staring straight at Sonic. "You survived all this time, Blue Seed? Few Metarex from the War Edit survived. What makes you so special?"

Nova could not explain the heat that rose to her cheeks or the burning in her chest. Besides that, the term, "War Edit" made her nervous. Obviously, the Metarex was referring to the Changed War, but the way the Metarex said it made it sound like this war was a do-over of that war. Like it had all been planned out by the Metarex.

What if it was?

What if the Metarex caused the universe to return to the year 2006?

-X-X-X-

_Sonic's View_

Sonic felt a bolt of shock run through his body. Most of the Metarex from the Changed War were gone? It wasn't as though they could have just never existed. Had the Metarex killed off their failures? And if all the old Metarex had been killed, where had all these new Metarex come from? "I'm a lot stronger than you think," Sonic said. He meant for it to come out cocky, but it was a struggle to keep his voice steady.

"And yet, you are not all that great a threat, are you?" the Metarex sneered.

Sonic gritted his teeth but did not respond. The Metarex continued, "I am Sparking Elm, one of the Trio under the Metarex Rusted Maple. And today, you will die."

Sparking Elm lunged for Sonic and, with a cry, Sonic leapt into the air. Too late, he realized that had not been a good choice. He couldn't control where he landed now, and one step on those electrified wires and Sonic would be quite literally cooked.

Gravity took hold of Sonic, his heart dropping right along with his body. And suddenly, Nova's ship swept under him. His feet hit the metal surface hard, and he crumpled on the wing. Sonic looked at the cockpit of the craft where Nova glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Thanks!" Sonic called over the roaring of the wind.

"Don't thank me. You need to tell me what the heck the plan is because you're not wearing your freaking headset," she yelled at him.

Sonic pulled himself to his feet, riding the wing of the craft like a surfboard. He stared down at Sparking Elm not only attacking both Shadow and Knuckles but also loading and firing missiles. "This Metarex is new," Sonic told her. "I don't have any plan."

"Freaking fantastic," Nova muttered.

Sonic didn't reply. There wasn't any clear path of action since there was no way to attack the Metarex. Covered with electricity, the Metarex was unable to be touched anywhere unless his attacker desired to become fried. "I can't touch him, Nova, and that takes me out of this battle. Knuckles too."

Nova pounded her fist on the glass in anger. "Can't you use a Chaos Emerald or something?"

Sonic clapped his hand to his forehead. "That's what I forgot!"

"That and your headset!" Nova shouted. "It's a wonder you've survived as long as you have!"

Sonic looked at Nova. "Nova, I have no idea who has it. At all. We might have left it behind."

Nova stared at him in horror. "You are such an IDIOT!" She turned forward and said into her headset, "Please tell me someone has the Chaos Emerald."

After a moment, Nova let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." She glanced at Sonic. "You're lucky Cream has more sense."

"I have to get it," Sonic said.

"And leave us? That's a death sentence!"

Sonic gritted his teeth. "Well, my being here is not going to help unless I have that Emerald. I can't even _try_ to touch him until his electricity's gone."

Nova didn't reply, and Sonic glanced sideways at her, trying to figure out if she was contemplating what he said or just being stubborn and refusing to respond. Sonic was surprised it wasn't quite either. Rather, her face was drained of color. But when she looked at Sonic again, that expression disappeared, being replaced with one of determination and anger. She said, "Fine, just move as quickly as possible."

Sonic leapt off the wing without further conversation, but Nova's expression continued to burn in the back of his brain. Never before had he seen her so scared.

He shook away the thought. There wasn't time for this; he had to grab the Chaos Emerald from Cream and get back fast. If he didn't move fast enough, there was a chance that he would come back to nothing at all.

-X-X-X-

_Angel's View_

Angel stared around the bridge of the Blue Typhoon, trying to choke down her sense of awe so that she could focus on how screwed they were. She hated that neither Sonic nor Nova would let her get involved in the fight. They allowed her to fight in her present. She was strong enough, plus she could use magic, just like Nova. They were being way too overprotective, even though they were still just teenagers and typically more reckless. Or so she would have figured. Her parents had taught her everything she knew, and now they wouldn't let her fight? This just wasn't fair!

She looked up at Tails where he sat in the captain's seat. "Tails, what can I do to help?"

Tails glanced at her before returning his eyes to his work on the screen. "I'm not sure you can. What do you know about engineering?"

What was Angel doing here? She knew so much more about combat, after years of training courtesy of her dad; she would be a much greater help to the fight than to starting up the Blue Typhoon. "Only a little," she admitted, "Only what you taught me, and most of that went over my head."

"Uh…do you think you can analyze data for me?" Tails asked.

Angel nodded. "That much I think I know how to do." She walked over to the lower left station and sat down. She tried to focus on the screen in front of her, to tell Tails that the readings were appropriate. However, she couldn't focus for more than three minutes before her heart shuddered in her chest. Something felt wrong. "Wait a second, Tails," she whispered.

Angel closed her eyes, feeling for her Chaos Energy. She could feel its voltage, the occasional spikes in energy. From its nearness, Angel could reach out and sense Tails's Chaos Energy, much stronger and steadier than her own. She took a deep breath and threw out her sense to reach Sonic. It hit her hard, sending her breath flying from her lungs. It was overwhelmingly stronger than hers, much steadier from more frequent use. But something felt off. She searched deeper. It felt warm, sparking constantly with excess energy. Well…that was different. The energy was readying itself but had nowhere to go.

Angel opened her eyes, taking in shaky breaths. Tails said, "Are you okay?"

"My dad's Chaos Energy is acting strange," she explained slowly. "I need to figure out why." _Okay, so his Energy is active, ready to be used. But it's not being used. Why wouldn't Dad be using it? _Then it hit her. "He doesn't have the Chaos Emerald," she said in horror, "and he needs it." Angel looked at Tails. "Where's the Chaos Emerald?"

"Nova just asked," Tails reported, since he was the one of them who actually had a headset once Angel had returned it to him. "Cream has it. Apparently, Sonic's going to get it now."

Angel nodded, but it still felt like something wasn't right, so not right that Angel felt sick to her stomach. But what was she missing? Her heart shuddered. If it had nothing to do with Chaos Energy, then what in the world could it be? "Tails, something's really not right. Do you feel anything Chaos Energy-wise?" Was she just not sensing it?

Tails looked at her, frowning. "I don't feel anything."

"Search for it."

Tails shook his head. "I don't know how to."

"Oh." Angel looked forward, staring out into the Blue Typhoon's docking bay. Something simply wasn't right. She thought through everything; the battle, Amy's house, Cream's house….

AMY!

Amy was still at home, and Sonic was too busy to get her. She still couldn't walk on her leg so she couldn't escape. Thinking of Amy brought her mind to Shadow, facing the battle without a Chaos Emerald.

Oh no.

What if this was it? What if this was the time Amy and Shadow died? Angel's heart rose to her throat and her limbs felt numb. This could be it. This could be the moment where Angel changed the course of time. "Tails," she said, her voice failing. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "Amy and Shadow…this could be it."

Tails paled. "You mean…this is when…?"

Angel nodded. "This might be the day Amy and Shadow die."

_I know Dad doesn't want me involved in this battle, but if there's any chance that this might be when Shadow and Amy die, I have to be there. I need to stop it. And if I do, I can't get in trouble anyway because Sonic will never be my dad._

Her last thought sent a chill down her spine. Sonic not her dad? Not being his little girl? Not being Nova's heir to Majyk? Thinking of it that way scared her. Everything she had ever been to anyone would never be. Yeah, she would be a Time Whisperer. No, she wouldn't die. But Sonic and Nova would never share the memories of Angel's childhood and life with their daughter.

Angel gritted her teeth and put on a brave face. Her future was wrong, and she knew it. By saving Shadow and Amy, she could very well end the tyranny of the Metarex. She would bring her parents joy. She could not fail; this was her purpose. She stood tall. "Is the X-Tornado on board?"

Tails looked confused. "Yeah. Why?"

"I need to borrow it," Angel said simply, exiting the station.

"Wait, Angel!" Angel halted at the sound of Tails's voice and tilted her head up to look at him. "Sonic told you not to go to battle."

Angel mustered up a smile. "Won't be the first time I got in trouble with him."

"Angel…"

"Either way, Tails, if this could be it, the time Shadow and Amy die, I have to be there; I have to stop it."

Tails sighed. "Sonic's going to be mad."

Angel shook her head. "If this is it, he'll have no reason to be. If it's not, I'll take full responsibility."

Angel couldn't waste any more time rationalizing with Tails and so, without another word, walked off the bridge. The surrealism of all of it hit Angel in the hallway outside. Could she really be going out there to sacrifice herself for people she didn't know all for the happiness of her parents? Few would do that.

Her dad probably would.

-X-X-X-

_Shadow's View_

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted with a sweep of his hand.

He doubted his attack would do much damage and was not disappointed. All his yellow bolt of Chaos Energy caused was a scuff mark on the armor of the Metarex hidden beneath the electricity. If that. Shadow gritted his teeth. Only one Chaos Emerald, and Sonic had forgotten it. Only two of them currently able to cause any damage, and the damage caused did absolutely nothing. Shadow had yet to get close enough to Knuckles to alert him of the need to gather that Master Emerald.

This was pointless. The Metarex was much too strong for any of their attacks. Shadow even doubted that the Chaos Emerald would have enough of an effect to take out Sparking Elm. "Shadow!" Nova cried via the headset. "We need a plan that will actually cause some damage!"

"There is none," Shadow said, throwing out another Chaos Spear for good measure. "No attack causes damage."

"I should land and try magic," Nova said. "Maybe something in my arsenal will work."

"That is dangerous, Nova," Shadow said.

"I'm a sitting duck doing what I'm doing now. There's not really anything to lose."

Shadow hated Nova's idea but knew better than to question her further. When Nova had an idea in her head, it was basically impossible to alter it.

To Shadow's left, Knuckles tried to distract Sparking Elm, seeing as he could not actually make contact and therefore not attack. With each of Shadow's own attacks, he propelled himself toward Knuckles. Was it the best battle strategy? Definitely not. But reminding Knuckles of his responsibility was the only thing that was going to get them off the planet to fight another day. "Echidna!" he called as loudly as he dared so as to not alert the Metarex.

Knuckles's head spun toward him. "Yeah, what?"

"The Blue Typhoon needs the Master Emerald immediately."

Knuckles's eyes widened. "Oh, crap!" His eyes flicked up to the Metarex. "I've got to get out of here."

"I'll distract it; go!" Shadow said without a second thought.

Shadow dashed up the branches of the tallest tree nearby until he stood on its highest branch. He paused only a moment, sucking in a deep breath, before he threw himself straight at the Metarex.

From his height, he was nearly parallel to the Metarex's line of vision. Shadow could only hope the Metarex would be so distracted by his daring act that he wouldn't notice Knuckles sneaking away. All that surrounded Shadow was the roaring sound of air passing his ears. There was nothing to catch him, save the jolts of electricity flying wildly from Sparking Elm.

If Shadow did not begin his spin soon enough to throw himself out of the way, fried hedgehog would be on the menu tonight. The closeness of the electricity stood his hair on end, and he pulled himself into a ball. Only inches from the deadly electricity, Shadow propelled himself down to the ground. His feet touched the ground, and he uncurled. Shadow glanced around to find Knuckles missing.

Good.

Nova's ship now rested in dead grass, and Nova stood in the cockpit. Shadow positively _hated _Nova's plan. She made too excellent a hostage; if something went bad, it would go bad fast.

Suddenly, a strong breeze jolted across the clearing. In a second, Sonic stood beside Shadow, grasping the Chaos Emerald tightly in his hand. "Ready, Shadow?" he said.

Shadow appreciated the fact that Sonic was not wearing a grin but a glare. At least the hedgehog took this seriously. Shadow granted his affirmative reply. Sonic held the yellow Emerald high above his head. "Chaos Control!"

Bright light erupted from the Emerald, leaping forward at Sparking Elm. Shadow held his breath. This had to get through.

The Chaos Energy flowed into the electricity, only building it stronger.

Shadow's jaw dropped. Sonic tensed. Shadow heard Nova's sharp intake of breath. The electricity had to actually be Chaos Energy.

Okay, now they were officially screwed.

"So what's the plan now?" Nova said over the headset, struggling to keep her voice steady. She was losing that struggle.

"I've got no plan," Sonic told Shadow, although he had no idea what Nova had just said. He looked expectantly at Shadow.

Shadow said nothing. He wasn't sure _what_ to say. The only thing running through his head was, _This is the end_.

And then, out of nowhere, a missile impacted Sparking Elm.

The X-Tornado bolted across the clearing. The Metarex winced from the explosion, a pale scorch mark left behind. "And there's Tails!" Sonic announced, a smile returning to his face.

Nova crossed the clearing over to the two hedgehogs. "That's not Tails," she said. "He's still on the Blue Typhoon."

Shadow realized that Tails was speaking in his ear and had probably been for some time. Nova asked, "Tails, who is piloting your X-Tornado?"

Tails didn't respond for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said finally, "but she insisted. It's Angel."

"You're kidding," Nova said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself.

"What?" Sonic said, looking paler than before.

Nova looked up at Sonic, then back up at the sky. "Angel's piloting the X-Tornado."

"I told her not to come!" Sonic exclaimed, visibly upset.

"She's definitely your daughter, hedgehog," Shadow scoffed.

-X-X-X-

_Angel's View_

Angel spun the X-Tornado back around to face the Metarex again. She knew she couldn't fight in the air very long; her attack hadn't left much of a mark. It would do nothing to slow the Metarex down. It might still go after Shadow, despite all her efforts in the air, and kill him. She needed to land as quickly as possible and get Shadow out of there. Maybe she could do some combination magic with her mom. With the Chaos Emerald right there, their power would be amped up high. Whatever they did, they should be able to do _something_.

Angel searched for a clear spot to land the X-Tornado. Then her eyes caught sight of a clear spot just to the right of Shadow.

She descended to the ground as quickly as possible. Thank goodness Tails had spent a good amount of time teaching her about piloting in her timeline. She ripped off her safety harness and jumped to the ground, not even bothering to ease her descent with her wings. She could feel the eyes of her parents on her. Even with them only being teenagers, her heart beat faster as she realized how badly she had disobeyed them.

If she got out of this still existing, she was _so_ grounded.

But she smothered that thought. Angle sprinted across the grass and stopped in front of Shadow. She faced the Metarex, setting a determined expression on her face and spread out her arms. A living shield. "What are you doing, Angel?" Nova yelled.

Angel did not dare answer. If she told her mom the thoughts running through her head, she might lose her nerve. "Shadow, get out of here," Angel commanded as firmly as she could.

"Is it now?" So at least Shadow seemed to get it. Why were her parents so dense?

"It may be," Angel confirmed.

The Metarex in front of Angel towered over her. It cackled, and she felt some of her strength faint with fright. "And who is this fragile little fairy? Do you really believe you can counter the power of the Metarex?"

Angel thought about what her dad might say in this situation. So she put on the cockiest smile she could. "Sure, why not?" she said.

She felt a bolt of wind sweep over her and let out a soft sigh of relief. Shadow was gone from here; he was safe.

Of course, now her life was in danger.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Angel had not disappeared, become a Time Whisperer, or anything that indicated that she'd affected the timeline. So Shadow could still be in danger.

Or he never had been.

Too late to worry about that. They had to at least prevent the Metarex from following them out into space. Suddenly, Sonic grabbed her hand. "Chaos Control!" he shouted.

Angel's stomach dropped as Chaos Energy sparked in every pore of her body. Her feet lost all sensation of the ground beneath for just a moment before they came back in contact. Suddenly, she was on the other side of the clearing. Sonic's hand wrapped around her forearm. The hand which grasped the Chaos Emerald had its arm wrapped around Nova's waist. Where they had been standing moments ago was occupied by the Metarex who had lunged forward in attack. Good thing Sonic had noticed that coming; otherwise none of them would still be breathing.

Angel wanted a moment to catch her breath but knew that was asking too much. She pulled the Chaos Emerald from Sonic's hand and held it out to Nova. "Help me," she said.

Nova stared at her with wide eyes. "What are you expecting me to do?"

"We have to trap him so we can get off Mobius," Angel said quickly. There wasn't time to waste. The Metarex would continue its attack at any moment.

"Chaos Energy does nothing! He's electrified with it already!" Nova shouted. "The Chaos Emerald has no effect!"

"Weave it with your magic; Chaos Energy and magic come from different sources so magic should still have an effect," Angel explained quickly. The Metarex had turned toward them again. "Nova, help me!"

Nova reached out and touched her fingertips to the gem. Angel closed her eyes, reaching for her Chaos Energy, urging it to connect with the Energy inside the Chaos Emerald itself. She wasn't using Chaos Control, but she needed to connect to the Emerald to fuel and enhance her magic. She pulled hard on both sources of power in her head, stretching them out and linking them. She let out a breath. She needed to move faster than this but this magic took too long to do. She dared to open her eyes to know where to set the magic.

An electrified hand was sweeping down at them.

Angel threw her amplified magic at the Metarex's wrist, wrapping it around like a rope and securing the other end to the ground. The Metarex stumbled and fell forward, its body compensating for her action. Nova's eyes were still closed next to her. Her mom twisted and pulled her magic, weaving a prison upon the dead grass of the clearing. Red strips of energy erupted from the ground, surrounding the Metarex. Another hand reached out for the team, and Angel roped it as well, tightening it to the ground. She then weaved yellow bars of energy across her mother's vertical ones. Sweat ran down Angel's face, and she felt her heart pounding in her head. She noticed her mom glance at her out of the corner of her eye, and Angel hated her weakness only more. "I've got it," Nova said, taking over Angel's weaving.

Angel hated to stop, but she couldn't deny that her strength was gone. She broke off her connection with the Chaos Energy, and for a brief second, she couldn't breathe. As her fingers slipped from the Emerald, air came back to her lungs in quick shallow breaths. Sonic slipped his arm beneath Angel's shoulders. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fine," she said between breaths. She would have preferred to not reply at all but knew that would only freak her dad out more.

Nova finished weaving much quicker than Angel could ever have dreamed of doing on her own. Nova said, "Sparking Elm, you know galactic law states you may only war with Majyk because that is who first attacked out. The Metarex brought this on themselves."

"This war no longer concerns only Majyk. This is much bigger than you, Princess." The Metarex spat Nova's title.

"What are you talking about, Metarex?"

The Metarex laughed, despite his current state. A chill flew up Angel's spine. "You will find out soon enough," he mocked.

Nova turned away, apparently done with it. She looked at Angel instead. "Because you're not full fairy?" she said, not even needing to state she was talking about Angel's weakness.

"Yes," she replied, "but I'm okay."

Sonic did not remove his arm. Angel glanced at him. "I'm _fine_, Dad."

Angel felt Sonic's arm tense when Angel called him her dad, but he did remove it so Angel could stand of her own power. "Let's go," Nova said, staring at the Metarex with daggers in her eyes.

They walked around the magical prison over to the aircrafts. Angel said, "I'll take you to get Amy, Dad."

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, I can get her myself. Besides, I'd rather have you go straight to the Blue Typhoon."

Angel flushed. Yeah, she was in trouble. As Angel strapped in to the X-Tornado, the Metarex spoke once more. "We know who you are, Princess Angel of Majyk, daughter of Queen Nova and Sonic the Hedgehog. And there is nothing you can do to prevent that future."

Angel's heart pounded somewhere inside her throat, and she was aware of both her parents staring at her. Nonetheless, Angel retorted, "We'll see about that." And she quickly flew off in the X-Tornado. _How could they know who I am? _she thought, shocked. _I'm not…alive yet._

_Do the Metarex have control over time?_


	14. Snapping Rubber Band

I've got a new chapter for all of you! But before we get started, I just wanted to thank all of you for continuing to read this story. The world's a pretty dark place right now, and I'll admit I'm not doing the best. But writing fanfiction for all of you makes my day just a bit better. I hope having this to read offers the same relief to you.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Snapping Rubber Band**

_11/11/09_

_Dear journal,_

_I don't think I could begin to describe how…lost I feel. And that's really messed up, considering why. I guess, in a way, I'm the last living Metarex from the Changed War. _

_Saying it like that sounds terrible. But I guess the real shock is that new Metarex came to fill the places of the old ones. I don't get how that could even happen. Yeah, so the Metarex look like metallic monsters, but I know for a fact that Metarex are living creatures. How could they kill so many and still have some to take their place? I really don't get it._

_And then there's Angel. What am I supposed to do with her? She still looks at me like I'm her dad. She still calls me Dad. And then, when I tell her to go help on the Blue Typhoon, she steals one of Tails's planes and comes to the battle. It seems like everyone thinks she acts just like me. But…I guess I don't really want her to. She's a kid, a really reckless one, and even though she's part fairy, her magic's faulty because she's also part hedgehog. I don't want her to do something stupid and get hurt. I guess that means I'm acting kind of like a dad, but I think I'm just doing it off instinct. And what was up with Sparking Elm knowing who she was? _

_So now we're all on the Blue Typhoon, somewhere outside Mobius's atmosphere. We lost our home again, but at least everyone managed to get out. Pretty much everyone's on the Blue Typhoon. There's just not Vanilla, but she went to the Chaotix, so she'll be fine. And no one really got hurt. I mean, Knuckles and Shadow and me have some bruises but we pretty much always do. Angel got exhausted after doing some magic too, but she recovered in minutes._

_-Sonic the Hedgehog_

Sonic tossed his journal on the floor next to the railing he was leaning against near the front of the bridge. The adrenaline from the fight was still pouring through his veins, and there was just no way he could sit down.

Behind him, Tails sat in the captain's seat, piloting the Blue Typhoon. He had already apologized to Sonic for letting Angel get involved in the fight, but Sonic assured Tails it wasn't his fault.

Behind him to the left were Amy and Cream, each in a station. Amy had been shaken by the battle since she couldn't be of help, couldn't even stand up. Cream had been crying before; she was worried about her mom. Her eyes were still bloodshot.

Behind Sonic to the right, Chris and Nova occupied the stations. Chris has apologized as well for Angel's stunt and had promised to upgrade security so it couldn't happen again. Sonic just told him that he shouldn't bother since it probably wouldn't stop headstrong Angel. Nova was ticked off at Angel as well, but her head seemed to be far away right now.

Cosmo was in the ship's kitchen organizing supplies. She, of course, was terrified by the return of the Metarex. They were from her own planet, based on her own species. Cosmo thought it must be her fault for the return of the Metarex again because of the seeds of her clan that had been dispersed through the galaxy when she had been shot with the Sonic Driver.

Knuckles was in the engine room with the Master Emerald. Shadow was in the room with him, at least the last time Sonic had checked. He really had no idea what was going through that hedgehog's mind.

Angel was somewhere MIA on the Blue Typhoon. Sonic wondered if he should bother looking for her but decided against it. She would probably show up on the bridge eventually.

"Sonic, where are we supposed to be going?" Tails asked.

Sonic turned to Tails and shrugged. "I don't know, little buddy. I guess searching for the Chaos Emeralds is as good a plan as any."

Tails turned to Chris. "How's the scanner, Chris?"

Chris typed in a command and looked at his screen. "Should be working perfectly."

Tails nodded. "Go ahead and turn it on."

A radar popped up on the Blue Typhoon's main screen. As a wave went out, blips flashed on the screen, scattered across the sea of black. But suddenly, dozens of blips appeared flashing on the screen as the signal passed over them. Sonic glared at the screen. "Well, that's no good."

Tails gritted his teeth. "The scanner's not able to tell the difference between the real Chaos Emeralds and the one the Metarex make."

Another screen popped up, overlapping the scanner. After a moment of numbers running across this dark screen, Chris confirmed, "It used to be able to. And the scanner should be working fine; it should be able to tell the difference."

"Their duplicates must be better than last time," Tails said.

Sonic nodded. Though that nod likely portrayed more confidence that he felt. At the notion that the Metarex might be making better dupes that before, a shiver sent Sonic's heart shuddering. But then, Tails suddenly exclaimed, "I remember finding out something about it at the base we infiltrated!"

Sonic looked at Tails. Tails closed his eyes. "Something about…the copies were so close they were almost duplicates."

"Do you remember any details?" Chris said, looking urgently over his shoulder at Tails.

Tails shook his head, opening his eyes once more. A frown deepened across his face. "That's all I can remember; there wasn't time to read much more than that."

"Either way, it doesn't sound good," Sonic muttered.

Nova spoke up suddenly, "What are you talking about? Do you mean to say the Metarex know how to produce copies of Chaos Emeralds?"

Sonic's eyebrow rose. "You didn't know?"

Nova shook her head. Sonic would never admit it, knowing from experience how Amy reacted to such things all too well, but Nova looked awful. Her face was incredibly pale, and she looked exhausted. Sonic recalled that Nova had little experience with the more legitimate forms of Chaos Control that had nothing to do with her magic. Since Sonic had pulled Nova into a teleportation via Chaos Control, she must have been reacting negatively.

Sonic looked away. He scowled out into the darkness of space. "It's better not to know."

"Why would you say that?"

"They feel…wrong."

"Like my magic. In your opinion, at least." Sonic could practically _hear _her rolling her eyes.

Sonic closed his eyes. "Nah; it's worse than that. Not sure how, but it is."

"Is there any way to fix the scanner so it won't pick up those Emeralds?" Amy asked.

Chris tried typing in another command, but the dozens of blips refused to fade. Chris said, "Not really. Maybe we could get a duplicate Emerald and analyze it. I could probably update the scanner then."

A chill ran up Sonic's spine. The idea of having a fake Chaos Emerald on board made Sonic uneasy. He reacted poorly to them. In the first Metarex War, Cosmo and Chris had been captured by a Metarex named Black Narcissus, and Sonic went to the Metarex base to save them. There was a manufacturing plant there producing fake Chaos Emeralds and when Sonic got mad about seeing his friends hurt and scared, something…happened. Sonic had felt the Chaos Energy rising inside him, but the fake Emeralds twisted it. Chaos Control occurred, but it was controlled by Sonic's hatred as he decimated Metarex robots without a second thought.

Eggman had been able to snap him out of it, luckily, and none of his friends found out what had happened. Sonic never wanted to feel that way again. But if that was the only way they would ever be able to tell the difference between real and fake Chaos Emeralds with the scanners, there wasn't much of a choice. "I guess we head for one of those…light-things then," Sonic said. "I mean, either we get a real Emerald or we get a fake one that can adjust the scanners, right?"

"Makes sense to me," Chris said. "Tails, you're our captain. What do you think?"

Tails said, "It sounds like a good plan. What is the name of the planet that the closest signature is on?"

The planet expanded across the screen. "It's called Emberlain. It's a little drier than Mobius, but otherwise it's really similar," Chris explained.

"How long until we get there?" Sonic asked. The adrenaline still poured through his veins from the last battle, and he was raring to go for the next.

"Sorry, Sonic," said Tails, "but it should be about two days at least."

Sonic's head tilted back so that he could cry out at the ceiling, "Oh, come ON!"

"Can someone just build that hedgehog a freaking treadmill!" Nova complained.

"Can you not yell at him?" Amy said. "He's frustrated, okay?"

"That's not really my problem, is it?" Nova snapped.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Are we going to do this the whole way?"

Both girls crossed their arms and glared at each other. Tails looked nervously between them. Chris stared at Sonic like he hoped Sonic would know what to do. Sonic shook his head. "Really?" he practically laughed. "I mean…this is just…." Sonic found he couldn't come up with a word for it. Not one he could say without getting killed at the hands of two girls desperately in need of an attitude adjustment.

So instead without another word, he dashed off the bridge before he could get on anyone's bad side. Fast enough that no one could even shout after him.

While he ran down the hallway, he sighed as the recycled air of the Blue Typhoon crashed against his face. Amy was more temperamental than ever since she had found out there was a timeline where Nova got her precious hero. Amy had always been overprotective, but this was something else.

Sonic made a quick turn, only to find someone in his path. He skidded to a halt. Angel stood at the end of the hall, staring at Sonic. "Where have you been?" Sonic asked. He tried to shove away his instinctual surprise that had his heart slamming against his chest.

Angel shrugged. "Hiding."

Sonic laughed, walking over to her. "From what?"

Angel looked down at her feet, shifting uneasily. "From you."

Sonic blinked at her. That was about the last thing he had expected her to say. "Huh? Why?"

With her head still bowed, Angel looked up at her dad. "I thought you'd be mad at me. I didn't listen. You told me to go to the Blue Typhoon, but I went after you into battle."

Sonic sighed, putting his hand behind his head. "Yeah, but it's not something that any one of us hasn't done."

Angel frowned. "You know, most parents ground their kids when they disobey them," she said.

Sonic shrugged. "Well, I'm not really a normal parent."

Angel still looked at him expectantly. Sonic shook his head. "No, I'm not happy with what you did, but I'm not really surprised. You are my daughter after all, right?" Sonic smiled at that. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. But I'm not mad. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Angel smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

"Didn't I tell you that you didn't have to call me that?"

Angel blinked, cocking her head. "Call you what?"

"Dad."

Angel's mouth widened. "I called you Dad again? Sorry, it's…hard to get used to." Angel turned quickly and walked away before Sonic could say another word.

Sonic ran his hand across the fur of his quills. "The Metarex are bad enough," Sonic muttered, "but these women are going to be the death of me."


	15. Losing Faith

**Chapter Fifteen: Losing Faith**

_Nov. 15, 2011_

_Dear Diary:_

_I'm starting to think we're not going to make it to Emberlain alive. And it's not even because of the Metarex. It's because of that stupid, self-obsessed fairy who thinks the world revolves around her. Nova keeps treating Sonic like he's worthless and like everything's his fault, and I'm so sick of it. How can she end up with him in ANY reality? I love him, have always loved him and still somehow there's a reality where I lose him. Or he loses me. I still can't figure out how I should think about that. But it's not fair._

_I hate this. I used to think Nova was okay, and she specifically told me during the Changed War that there was NOTHING going on between her and Sonic. Now, she's terrible to Sonic. And to me._

_Love,_

_Amy Rose_

Amy closed her journal but left it on her lap and simply stared at it. Her finger trailed along its spine. Now that she wasn't busy yelling at Nova, she simply felt helpless. Ever since she broke her leg, it felt like everything was outside of her control. When her leg broke, she couldn't fix it. Now that her life was threatened, it felt like anyone but her had the ability to decide the outcome.

And what was maybe worse than anything was that there was nothing she could do to distract her.

Besides Amy, the only other person on the bridge was Tails. And even that was beginning to get awkward. Tails kept glancing over at her, and Amy was quickly becoming irritated. But the bridge seemed like the safest public place on the Blue Typhoon right now. At least she couldn't run into Nova here. Nova has been avoiding the bridge ever since her and Amy's fight had sent Sonic running.

Amy slowly placed her journal on the ground next to her. It looked like it was going to be another awkward, silent day.

And then a siren erupted across the bridge.

"Tails, what's going on?" Amy cried above the noise.

"I don't know!" Tails typed frantically.

Amy looked down at her screen but all that appeared was a "warning" sign. "Nothing's coming up!"

Sonic ran on to the bridge. "What that siren all about?"

Tails kept typing, his eyes flashing up to the Blue Typhoon's main screen. "I'm trying to track it down."

Angel rushed in the room and slid to a stop next to Sonic. Shadow dashed on to the bridge soon after and was followed by Nova. Despite the chaos of the siren, Amy still shot a glare in her direction. Nova's eyes flicked in Amy's directions, but then she turned her shoulder and stared coldly at the screen before all of them. Angel asked, "It could be the Metarex, right?" She lifted her fists in front of her as though she was ready to throw a punch. As if that would do anything against a Metarex threat.

Nova muttered, "It almost has to be."

"It doesn't have to be," Sonic corrected.

"Who else could it be then?" Angel said, glancing between her parents.

Amy felt a chill run down her spine, her heart pulling as if it wanted to yank itself right out of her chest. She felt…out of the loop. Nova and Sonic were Angel's parents, Tails was her adopted uncle, and Shadow was the one Nova leaned on no matter what was happening. Amy seemed to be the only one in the room being ignored. "It could just be someone passing us," she said, desperate to be included.

Only Angel glanced back at her, but her expression only revealed her taking in another opinion. Neither Nova nor even Sonic bothered to look back at Amy, and her heart burned. She wanted to shout at them, to make them see her, but for the first time in her life she felt absolutely abandoned by Sonic. She wrapped her arms around herself as a chill crept across her skin.

Tails said, "I'm not sure that it's a ship at all. It could be cloaked, but I don't think so."

"How could it not be a ship?" Angel asked.

Tails didn't respond. A bunch of windows popped up on the screen.

Tails stopped typing. "That's not me," he breathed.

Amy watched with horror as their security and firewall shut off.

"Then who is it?" Nova shouted.

A file uploaded, its name popping up within one of the folders displayed in its own window on the screen. And then, just like that, the siren shut off.

No one spoke for a moment. Only the clacking of Tails's typing filled the room. And then—

"Someone sent us a message," Tails breathed.

Silence met his words. Amy forced herself to continue to breathe through the thin straw of her throat. In that silence, a new window popped open on the screen. For a split second, he thought that the hacker was still in their system, at least until Tails said, "The anti-virus doesn't see anything wrong, so I guess it's clean. It's an audio file." He looked toward Sonic.

But Sonic kept his eyes straight ahead, frowning at the screen. But then the glare evaporated somewhat and he offered a shrug, "We might as well find out what it is."

Tails tapped on the clip. Grating static growled through the speakers, rough enough against Amy's ears that she winced. Underneath the static was a deep voice, but the words—if they were indeed words—were unintelligible. "What is that supposed to be?" Nova snapped.

Tails was already typing again. "The message is encrypted. Give me a second to decipher it."

Sonic tapped his foot impatiently with a grim expression on his face that was impossible to read. Nova's eyes flickered in Sonic's direction. They narrowed, but Nova said nothing. Angel drifted forward to stand toward the front of the bridge. Amy felt her own heart aching with impatient anticipation but forced herself to hold her breath and feign patience.

Tails sucked in a sharp breath, and all eyes flashed to his face. "This has a Metarex signature on it," he said with barely any voice behind his words.

"What does that mean?" Angel asked.

"Nothing good," Nova said darkly. Shadow tensed next to her, picking up her hand fiercely in his own.

"Might as well play it and see what crazy plan they have now," Sonic said. Though his tone sounded like he could be rolling his eyes, but the expression on his face was still dark.

Tails nodded shakily and tried to play the message again. A robotic voice played through the speakers. "Emberlain Chaos Emerald. Might be of interest. Waiting egg-speciallly for you."

"You're KIDDING!" Sonic shouted, his grim expression evaporating in an instant to be replaced with an amused grin.

"Mind providing the explanation?" Nova grunted.

"That's got to be Dr. Eggman!" he exclaimed.

Amy's eyes widened, though not in the least bit of doubt. Now that Sonic said it, she realized there was really no other explanation for such a bizarre sentiment.

"Who?" Angel said.

Sonic spun around to look at her. "You don't know Eggman?"

Angel shrugged. "The name sounds familiar. I've never met him. I think he's dead in my future."

Sonic's eyes widened, and Amy shuddered. As much as Amy disliked the man, the idea of him being dead seemed like an impossibility. "How can you be certain it's the Doctor?" Shadow asked.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "How can you even question it? He said 'egg-spcially.'" A new grin lit up Sonic's face. "Guess that wacko traitor is on our side."

"Or it could be, oh, I don't know…a TRAP?" Nova said.

"Only one way to find out," Sonic said cheerfully. "Go to Emberlain and investigate."

Nova put her free hand on her hip. "And I say it's a bad idea. You said yourself that Dr. Eggman is working with the Metarex, and I've seen how scared you get around them. But the moment a psychotic madman uses a pun, you're fearless."

Amy jumped to her feet, ready for a showdown. "That just tells you how much we should trust Sonic's opinion! Since he hates the Metarex, the fact that he's fearless now only proves how much we should trust his judgement!"

Nova glared at Amy. "Or maybe it just goes to show that Sonic is freaking unstable!"

In an instant, Amy's Piko-piko hammer flashed into her hand.

Eyes widened around the room. Magic burst to life in Nova's hand, shooting off threatening sparks. Sonic bolted up to Amy faster than the eye could see and stood directly in front of her. "Amy, don't you dare," he said in a low voice.

"So now you're defending her!" she screamed, and Sonic stumbled back. "She would rather see you dead and you still defend her!"

"Don't way that!" Nova shouted. "I would never wish for that!" The sparkle of magic dancing around her fingertips grew brighter.

Sonic stared right into Amy's eyes, not taking as much as a moment to glance at anyone else in the room. "You're so wired; cool it. She doesn't matter."

"Then stop acting like you'd be better with her! Like you'd rather be a dad than be with me!" Amy had no idea where that had come from, but the moment the words left her mouth, she knew they were true.

If Sonic was shocked, he didn't show it. His eyes didn't widen for even a moment. And with the same firm expression on his face, he said, "You know I love you, Amy Rose. You should never question that."

Amy's hammer slipped from her hand, hitting the ground with a clang against the metal. Her arms felt limp, her heart heavy. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, Amy twisted away, stiffening her shoulders as she rushed away.


End file.
